米拉多王国被潜伏在村墙外的一只喷火怪兽吓坏了。除了国王，没有人真正见过这种动物。国王对即将到来的危险时刻的不断提醒，使整个村庄变得阴郁而无趣。春天的一天，一群音乐家带着他们的狗走进了大门。突然间，有了欢乐和浪漫，歌曲和舞蹈。人们不再害怕，直到讨厌的野兽出现。接下来发生的事情会让孩子们和成年人都感到高兴，因为艺术和音乐的魔力会把恐怖的尖叫变成阵阵笑声。艺术家凡妮莎·希(Vanessa Hie)借鉴了毕加索(Pablo Picasso)的杰作《音乐之歌》(Trois Musiciens)的细节，运用色彩鲜艳的水彩画、大胆的线条和图形图像，让孩子们熟悉毕加索的风格。书的结尾是一幅毕加索原画的复制品，以及关于这位艺术家对图像和符号的运用、他对戏剧和音乐的迷恋，以及他在**次世界大战后对和平的热情呼吁的迷人的一课。

The kingdom of Mirador is terrified of a monstrous, fire-spewing beast that lurks just outside the village walls. No one has actually seen the creature except for the king, whose constant reminder of impending danger turns the village gloomy and joyless. One spring day a troupe of musicians and their dog enters the gates. Suddenly there is fun and romance, song and dance. The people are no longer afraid - until the loathsome beast does, in fact, appear. What happens next will delight children and adults alike as the magic of art and music transforms screams of terror into peals of laughter. Drawing on details of Pablo Picasso's masterpiece Trois Musiciens, artist Vanessa Hie uses brightly hued watercolors, bold lines and graphic images to familiarise children with Picasso's style. The book closes with a reproduction of Picasso's original painting and an engaging lesson on the artist's use of images and symbols, his fascination with theatre and music and his passionate pleas for peace in the wake of World War I.