Fairytale stories often involve the presence of magic and mystical characteristics, while folktale stories are stories that have been verbally passed down through generations by word of mouth, typically becoming timeless fictional stories.

Dragons are among the most popular and enduring of the world's mythological creatures, believed to have been real for centuries.

Dragon tales are known in many cultures, from the Americas to Europe, and from India to China. They have a long and rich history in many forms and continue to populate our books, films and television shows, as brave heroes routinely fight to slay the beasts.

The belief in dragons was based not just in legend but also in hard evidence, or at least that's what people thought, long ago. For millennia no one knew what to make of the giant bones that were occasionally unearthed around the globe, and dragons seemed a logical choice for people who had no knowledge of dinosaurs.

Though most people can easily picture a dragon, people's ideas and descriptions of dragons vary dramatically, Some dragons have wings; others don't. Some dragons can speak or breathe fire; others can't. Some are only a few feet long; others span miles. Some dragons live in palaces under the ocean, while others can only be found in caves and inside mountains, such as Smaug in JRR Tolkein's "The Hobbit."

Another mythical creature that shares its home across several cultures, the Phoenix is a beast that needs no introduction. According to legend there is only ever ONE phoenix alive at any one point.

They live for 500 years, and then, when it is their time to pass, they burst into flames. From the ashes of it's predecessor, the next phoenix is born.

Oh LET's GO...

This is unquestionably my favorite subject matter and I could talk about this all day long. There are so many choices out there for good reads with this subject matter.