Artist Nina Crittenden’s love of animals inspires her drawings in her picture books. When she illustrated Cedric and the Dragon by Elizabeth Raum, Nina decided to give the young prince pets to grow up with him!

In this Stories Behind the Stories video, Nina takes us into her studio and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at a few illustration decisions that made the friendship between young prince Cedric and the dragon extra special.

Bonus: Nina paints a dragon and introduces Gus Gus, the real cat who was drawn into the book!