THE BOY WHO GREW DRAGONS by ANDY SHEPHERD
Illustrated by SARA OGILVIE
Reviewed by Jessica (Year 5)

STAR RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

RECOMMENDED YEAR GROUP: 4/5

A funny story of Tomas, who finds the most mysterious and magical fruit in his grandad’s garden. Imagine finding something so brilliant but you have to keep it a secret! Dragons are not easy to keep hidden. Everyone will want a naughty dragon to sit on their shoulder. My favourite part is when his friends get dragons as well.

I think this book is good for people who like funny and magical stories. I cant wait to read the next two books in the series.

THE BOY WHO GREW DRAGONS by ANDY SHEPHERD
Illustrated by SARA OGILVIE
Reviewed by Miss Daunt

STAR RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

RECOMMENDED YEAR GROUP: 3

INTERESTS: dragons, magic, science, plants, pets, animals, fantasy

THEMES: responsibility, family, friendship, secrets/lies, choices/dilemmas

IF YOU LIKED THIS, YOU’LL LOVE:
The Boy Who Lived With Dragons by Andy Shepherd
The Dragon Machine by Helen Ward
The Egg by M. P. Robertson
Dragonology by Dugald Steer
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

MY THOUGHTS: Humorous but with heart

The story focuses on Tomas who, when working on the allotment with his grandad, finds a dragonfruit tree and a dragonfruit begins to glow. He takes it home and a dragon hatches from the fruit. The majority of the story is about him learning how to take care of his dragon (Flicker) and keep it a secret from his family and friends (although, eventually, he shares his secret with his friends). The book ends with the friends camping out to ‘catch’ their own dragons and chaos ensues. It ends in a good place for a sequel (‘The Boy Who Lived With Dragons’).

It’s an enjoyable story for a Year 3 or 4 child: plenty of excitement, humour and fantasy – what child doesn’t want a pet dragon?! There’s just enough new vocabulary and some lovely description of the dragons, as well as talk about poo and wee!

I like that there’s also a heavy focus on family (mainly Tomas’s positive relationships with his little sister and his grandad) and some great little parts about Tomas’s guilt when lying to his grandad or envy at his friends’ shoeboxes for their dragons.

It’s a great ‘read for pleasure’ book but could also be used as a class text. Chapters are short; there are lots of cross-curricular links (science, writing, PSHE, art); opportunities for a good hook (dragonfruits mysteriously appear around the classroom, or even have a ‘campout’ at school). If you want to use it in the classroom, there are lots of nice resources in the pack on Andy Shepherd’s website: https://www.andyshepherdwriter.co.uk