Sophie hears a dragon every night when she is in bed. He goes 'rattling through the kitchen, slinking to the living room, growing and growing in the dark'. No amount of persuasion from mum and dad will convince her there is no dragon. She tries all sorts of ploys to catch him: dressing up in armour with a sword, using her 'pump-action supersonic water squirter' to put out the dragons fire - but it's only her parents who get wet. She finally comes to believe that the dragon just doesn't understand that it is only she, Sophie, who is trying to find him, and one night when she tiptoes downstairs and into the sitting room she finds her dragon - the family cat! This is a superb book, full of humour and gentle love. Sharp-eyed children will see Sophie and the cat sharing hugs on previous pages and will know that the 'dragon' couldn't have a happier counterpart. The illustrations, full of cross-hatching and shadows manage to produce the feel of being scared without being the least bit frightening themselves. A real partnership in text and pictures.