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Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
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Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.
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Dragonmail Stickers and Postmark
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Recreate the excitement of the days when Dragonmail was the fastest way to send a letter from a far off land
 ven though it was over a hundred years ago, I can still remember the thrill of getting my first Dragonmail letter. Back then, there was no email nor even airmail, and before some bright spark had had had the notion of employing the world's most fearsome beasts to deliver mail, letters and parcels took weeks to crawl their way back for foreign parts over land by mail train and over sea by tramp steamer. As commerce  increased, in the late 1800s, finding a more expedient method of delivery became a priority.
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It had long been thought that dragons might be able to be put to some good use, but when the idea of using dragons for the critical activity of mail delivery was first proposed, it was greeted with ridicule by all and sundry. Respected columnists ran scaremongering leaders in all the newspapers of the day, expounding a variety of wild theories; gentlemen wrote in fury to their MPs and the London Times,  and physicians up and down the land saw a sharp increase in attacks of the vapours in their more delicate patients. It was suggested that the dragons were stupid beasts, who given to violence as they were, might in their ignorance, scorch or even destroy by fire, the parcels and letters in their charge. Some went further in considering such a fate to be the least worrisome outcome, proposing instead that the "brutes" might accidentally eat their handlers if they became hungry during a flight, or worse still wreak havoc and destruction at the various postal-stations where they were directed to land with their cargoes.
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Of course, none of these scenarios came to pass. Firstly, only the more  gentle of the dragon species, known for their temperance, were enlisted and trained for service; secondly, Postal-stations were located away from urban areas (as a matter of prudence); and thirdly, the beasts themselves took to the task with a dedication, nobility and steadfastness that would have been a credit to even the most diligent of human employees. Indeed it was a sad day when the majestic swoop of the Dragonmail elite was finally replaced by the raucous mechanical clatter of the airplane, and the last dragon flew its final mail delivery.
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Now you can recall those halcyon days by making up this gorgeous little booklet of Dragonmail stickers. This project is the ideal accompaniment to the Dragon post stamps and when used with the antique Dragon Franking Postmark, will let you make a lovely letter all of your own, just like the one here.
If you look closely, when the postmark is magnified, you can see it was a letter franked in Nepal in 1907, at the height of the Dragonmail service.
Everythihng you need to make your authentic Dragonmail letter is right here. If you want, you can design your own stamps, or use one or two from the Special Delivery Imperial Post Dragon Stamps proof sheet. To get started, the first thing you'll need is a blank letter envelope. If you have an old one then that's good, but it doesn't have to look old to start with, because we are going to age it a bit as part of the project.
. . . Stick your stamp or stamps on it as if it were a normal envelope, in the top right corner. Then download and make up the Dragonmail sticker booklet, using the instructions that come with the download. This part of the project is really easy and you learn how to make a simple little booklet that looks really cool, but if you only want the stickers then you don't even have to make up the booklet. When you stick the Dragonmail stickers on your envelope, don't line them up too carefully. Usually, the people sending letters are in a hurry or careless, because stickers on old envelopes are always stuck on haphazardly, so for the most authentic look, you shouldn't stick them on so that they line up with the edges of the envelope. In your stickers download you get a few each of three different Dragonmail stickers and a four special Dragon Registered Mail stickers (Although once you've downloaded the project, you can print it out as many times as you like).
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 Now write and old fashioned looking address on the letter (remember they didn't have post or zip codes in the 1800s). For a really original look, you will need to draw a cross right across the front of the envelope and squiggle a number over or near one of the stickers. Use a soft blue colouring pencil and just draw a couple of straight confident lines across the envelope, like the ones in the picture shown on above.
. . . For the final finishing touch, download the postmark / franking image and ink jet print it on to the front of the envelope so that it goes over part of the stamp or stamps, just like a real postmark.
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To do this, you'll need to download our special dragon postmark image and paste it onto the blank page of a word processing or paint document. Positioning it on the page so that it prints where you want it to will require a bit of trial and error, and it's difficult to give detailed instructions, because each printer is different. Basically, find out which side of the paper and which way round, your printer prints and then find out which edge of the paper feed tray it uses to align envelopes for printing. Once you know these two facts, position the postmark image on the blank page of a document, so that when it is printed it will print in the right place on the envelope. Adjust the printer intake tray to accept envelopes and then print the postmark image onto the envelope.
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All that's left for you to do is dirty the envelop up a bit. Use a soft lead pencil to draw on your finger tips and then smudge some pencil lead round the edge of the envelope. If you want a really tatty look, wipe a wet teabag round the base of a tea cup and use the cup to make part of a ring on the envelope, as if someone had carelessly rested their cup on the front, or used the envelope as a coaster at some point in the past.
The the sticker booklet download comes in A4 and US Letter size and includes the sticker designs (you will need to supply the glue) and the booklet cover and the folding and making instructions. The Postmark is a printable image. (Please also note that these are not real Airmail Stickers, or franking post mark, they are for model and play purposes only).
 
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The Dragonry
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For all those who may think, in their more reckless moments, that it might be easier to steal a golden egg from under the warm belly of a gently sleeping dragon than would be to make one, it might be wise to heed the text of this ancient rhyme...
Here you'll find so much more than dragons; you'll find projects that make it possible to create fantastic stories and games of your own. Every project is totally original and explained with simple illustrated downloads so that you can do the project together or (depending on age) your child can do it on their own, with a little help from you at key stages, and make something that really looks gorgeous.
All the projects are of the highest quality, because quality and attention to detail are very important to children.
So set your imagination alight with our wonderful dragons projects. Follow the story of Kaptin Scarlet, the famous philanthropist, whose 19th Century adventuring to bring back numerous weird and wonderful artifacts was the delight and fascination of civilized Victorian society. His motto, Life is Your Adventure, is as true now as it ever was, and is perfect for kids and dads everywhere, so make it yours and make the most of the time you spend together.
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