Read the Story - or - Listen to the Story

Bella the Dragon is a classic picture book about the magic of friendship, the sadness of separation, and the joy of reunion. Bella is a special dragon with scales made of sparkling jewels. Illustrator, Elaine Steckler, brings life to words with her exquisite illustrations.

Bella The Dragon is available in Apple's iBookstore. It is a free book under the category of Children and Teens. It is published by Catto Creations LLC

It is also published on this web site using Monocle, an open source eReader for the web. Click on the links to read the story or just listen as it is read to you.

An early version of the book was designed for the 320x480 screen resolution of popular handheld devices. It has been tested on the iPhone/iPod Touch using Stanza app and on the Android phone using the Aldiko app.
Click here to download Bella The Dragon in EPUB format for these devices.

EPUB formatted books can be read with a Firefox browser add-on called ePubReader.
Click here to get ePubReader Add-on

Copyright © 2000-2010, Catto Creations. All rights reserved.

Bella The Dragon

Navigation forward and back is accomplished by clicking on the right and left side respectively. Monocle only works using modern web browsers; Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. Click on the links below as appropriate.

• No Audio (works with modern web browsers: Firefox, Safari, Chrome)
• Read by Grandma Barb (works with modern web browsers: Firefox, Safari, Chrome)
• No Audio (early version that works with Internet Explorer and most other web browsers)

Copyright © 2000-2010, Catto Creations. All rights reserved.

Portofino, Italy

About the Book

The author first told this story as a counselor for a youth camp in Northern Arizona.

Over the ensuing 20 years she told variations of this story to her children. It was one of their favorites.

The Dragon, Bella, was eventually named after the author’s grandmother, a lively, colorful, hard-working Italian woman who loved her grandchildren unconditionally.

The setting of the story is inspired by the landscape of Portofino, Italy, which neighbors Santa Margarita. This is the birthplace of the author’s grandfather and is in memory of his oft proclaimed love for his home country: “Portofino ... the most beautiful place on earth!"

We hope that the story momentarily transports you to the most beautiful place on earth and you experience the contentment of unconditional love with the children you love.

Copyright © 2000-2010, Catto Creations. All rights reserved.