In honor of Appreciate a Dragon Day (yes, really--it's January 16), Tuesday's storytime in the Children's Department will feature stories about dragons. Not the prosaic Kimodo kind, but the fantastical, magical dragons of legend. If you can't make it to storytime, never fear. We have the next best thing: downloadable audiobooks. Almost as good as a live storyteller--you can listen to a recording of a good dragon tale! The New Hampshire Downloadable Audio Books collection allows you to check out books to your computer or MP3 player with your library card. Read more about the library's downloadable audiobook service here. Among the titles for children and teens available from the collection are:

• Dealing with Dragons (the Enchanted Forest series, book 1), by Patricia C. Wrede. Princess Cimerone has adventures with the dragon Kazul. Written for children.
• Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke. A children's book featuring the exploits of the dragon Firedrake and the human boy, Ben.
• Eragon , by Christopher Paolini. Though often found in teen collections, this title and its sequel, Eldest, have been widely enjoyed by adults as well. Take a look at Jenn's blog entry about the recent movie based on these books.

There's also a great selection of dragon books for young and old here at the library. Currently in the New Arrivals is The Last Battle, the third installment of Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster trilogy. The series, with a strong military component, begins with Dragonmaster, followed by Knighthood of the Dragon.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkein (author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) will tell you that The Hobbit pits hobbitt Bilbo Baggins against the villainous dragon Smaug, scourge of villagers.

And no list of dragon books would be complete without mention of Anne McCaffrey's classic series, The Dragonriders of Pern. Start with Dragonflight, the first in the series. The Harper Hall series is set in the same world as the Dragonriders, but can be read separately. Many of these titles are available in audiobook format, too.

Of course, there are many others. Leave us a comment to tell us your favorites!