{"id":37446,"date":"2024-05-31T23:40:49","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T03:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37446"},"modified":"2024-05-31T23:40:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T03:40:49","slug":"review-of-the-boy-who-grew-dragons-by-andy-shepherd-illustrated-by-sara-ogilvie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37446","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Boy Who Grew Dragons, by Andy Shepherd, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Boy Who Grew Dragons<\/em><\/p>\n

by Andy Shepherd
\nillustrated by Sara Ogilvie<\/p>\n

Yellow Jacket (Little Bee), 2020. First published in Great Britain in 2018. 212 pages.
\nReview written March 21, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a gentle and amusing fantasy story that reminds me of books I loved when I was a kid. There\u2019s no agonizing over realistic consequences, no deep dark inner turmoil \u2013 we\u2019ve got a kid who grew a dragon in his grandpa\u2019s garden and now is trying to hide his little fire-breathing pet from his parents and the class bully.<\/p>\n

The note from the main character nicely gives you an idea of what you\u2019re in for if you read it:<\/p>\n

When people ask me what we grow in Grandad\u2019s garden, I think they expect the answer to be cucumbers, tomatoes, or green beans. I don\u2019t think they expect the answer to be dragons. But there it is. We grow dragons. And I can tell you this \u2013 they\u2019re a lot more trouble than cucumbers.<\/p>\n

Things cucumbers do not<\/em> do: Poop in your dad\u2019s oatmeal.<\/p>\n

Singe your eyebrows.<\/p>\n

Make a really cozy nest by shredding all<\/em> your mom\u2019s alphabetically ordered recipes.<\/p>\n

Leave your underwear (the embarrassing ones covered in backhoes) hanging from the TV antenna.<\/p>\n

Chase your cat.<\/p>\n

Drop cabbages on your cat.<\/p>\n

Try to ride your cat like a rodeo bull.<\/p>\n

Wake you up at 4 a.m. every morning by digging razor-sharp claws into your forehead.<\/p>\n

Set fire to your toothbrush WHILE IT\u2019S STILL IN YOUR MOUTH.<\/p>\n

Of course, they also don\u2019t have scales that ripple and shimmer like sunlight on the sea. Or have glittering eyes that can see right into your heart. Or settle on your shoulder with their tail curled around, warming your neck, and their hot breath tickling your ear.<\/p>\n

Nope, none of these are things you can expect from a cucumber. Well, not any cucumbers I\u2019ve ever come across. Maybe a mutant radioactive space cucumber, but not your average garden variety. But dragons? Well, they\u2019re a whole other story.<\/p>\n

So, who wants to grow dragons? Dumb question, right? I mean seriously, who in their right mind would say no? Not me, that\u2019s for sure. And not you by the looks of it.<\/p>\n

But if<\/em> you want to grow dragons, you need to know what you\u2019re getting into. Sure, they\u2019re fiery, fantastical, and dazzling, but dragons are not all fun and games. Not by a long shot. And it\u2019s not just the fire and the flammable poop I\u2019m talking about. Oh, no!<\/p>\n

Which is why, my dragon-seeking desperados, I\u2019m writing this all down, so at least you can go into it with your eyes open. Because, believe me, you\u2019ll need them to stay wide, wide<\/em> open.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is full of light-hearted fun. It doesn\u2019t delve into a lot of questions about why this would happen or how the whole world wouldn\u2019t know if it did \u2013 it simply has fun looking at one boy it happened to. Sure, there\u2019s a classroom bully he has to deal with, and a mean neighbor next door, but Tomas is just an ordinary kid who\u2019s delighted to now have the coolest pet in the world. Grandad is an especially lovable character who sees the best in everyone, Tomas\u2019 parents are busy and distracted, and Tomas\u2019 little sister Lolly is young enough that no one understands she\u2019s talking about an actual dragon.<\/p>\n

Tomas\u2019 friends notice something\u2019s up right away. Can he keep the secret from them? Does he want to? But would they believe him if he tried to tell them? The only way would be he\u2019d have to show them\u2026.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m delighted to learn this is the start of a series. It\u2019s a light-hearted and short book with lots of illustrations and plenty of magic and fun.<\/p>\n

andyshepherdwriter.co.uk<\/a>
\nsaraogilvie.com<\/a>
\nyellowjacketreads.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/boy_who_grew_dragons.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd illustrated by Sara Ogilvie Yellow Jacket (Little Bee), 2020. First published in Great Britain in 2018. 212 pages. Review written March 21, 2020, from a library book Starred Review Here\u2019s a gentle and amusing fantasy story that reminds me of books I loved when I was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-fiction-review","category-fantasy","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37446"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43855,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37446\/revisions\/43855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}