~ What's your name, Little Dragon? ~

Blurb:

 Once, there was a very strange egg. Nobody knew who it belonged to.
When a little dragon hatched from the egg, everyone was even more confused!
Unable to find the dragon's parents, the birds, bats, bugs, and all the other animals in the forest decided to work together and raise the little dragon themselves!
But there's just one thing: the little dragon doesn't know his own name.

The other animals try to help, but only a dragon can name another dragon.
But with no other dragons in the forest, the little dragon has to choose his own name.

Suddenly, the little dragon has a very big decision to make!

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A tale about self-identity, self-acceptance, and finding where you belong... and the importance of making mistakes along the way!
With a cast full of memorable characters for children and adults to love, and hand-drawn illustrations, What's your name, little dragon? is sure to become a new favourite for all ages.

...

This book started as a 500-word text I sent someone when I was making up stories on the spot. Originally, it was about a dragon who didn't know he was a dragon. Over time, the storyline changed and the characters changed, but the general message stayed the same: it's alright not to fit in, because it's better to be just like you, rather than just like everyone else.

The Series: 'Essentia Forest' is a series of childrens' books which address the difficulties of identifying yourself, and how scary it can be to realise you're different from everyone around you. But it also points out that most of the time, everyone else also feels like they don't fit in, like the don't belong, like they're too weird or like they're just not the same as everyone else. It's one of the things a lot of us have in common, feeling like we're different. Whether this is because of our hobbies and interests, or how we look, or how we talk, or what our family looks like, or who we enjoy being friends with, or who we find our crowd with... realising we're not the same as everyone else can be terrifying. 

'Essentia' is a Latin word, derived from the Greek 'ousia', which means 'essence'. I chose this because all of the things which make us different are the things which make us us. They're as much a part of us as the things which we have in common with everyone else. They're essential parts of us, because without them, we wouldn't be ourselves. 

The things that make us different are usually the very essense of what makes each of us ourselves.

It seemed a good name for a series set in a forest full of characters who are all just right as they are, because they're all different.