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The Boy Who Grew Dragons (The Boy Who Grew Dragons 1)

Andy Shepherd, Sara Ogilvie

Subjects

  • Friends & Family - tears and laughter, and happy ever after
  • Funny Stuff - rib ticklers to make you fall off your chair

Average rating

5 out 5

DON'T MISS ANDY SHEPHERD'S ENCHANTING NEW SERIES THE WOOD WHERE MAGIC GROWS - OUT NOW! The first book in the bestselling THE BOY WHO GREW DRAGONS series, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019 'Irresistible ... a modern classic' GUARDIAN 'A warm-hearted debut ... lovely, expressive, characterful' SUNDAY TIMES When Tomas discovers a strange old tree at the bottom of his grandad's garden, he doesn't think much of it. But he takes the funny fruit from the tree back into the house - and gets the shock and delight of his life when a tiny dragon hatches! The tree is a dragonfruit tree, and Tomas has got his very own dragon, Flicker ... Tomas soon finds out that life with Flicker is great fun, but also very ... unpredictable. Yes, dragons are wonderful, but they also set fire to your toothbruth and leave your pants hanging from the TV aerial. Tomas has to learn how to look after Flicker - and quickly. And then something extraordinary happens - more dragonfruits appear on the tree. Tomas is officially growing dragons ... The first book in a sparky and utterly enchanting series.

Reviews

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A good series for P4/5 readers. It is a relatively simple story and plot but one that is suitable to this age group. Lovely illustrations throughout and a good storyline of a boy and his friends who finds dragonfruit in his grandfather’s garden and has to keep his new pet a secret. Others in the series which keeps the pupils interesed

sean23_e

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A lighthearted book that will be enjoyed by younger readers. The dragons are quite possibly the coolest pet that any child would like and the relationship it has with the cat brings a chuckle to the reader.

Gwari

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I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Miss_Jones1984

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A joy to read.

Gracie

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Hilarious

Miss Upton

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Enjoyed this book and so did my class. Loved the description of the dragons and used this to inspire some writing all from a dragon egg that I made! Great book.

Schapman87

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A brilliant concept of a book. Love the ideas of a dragon originating in a dragon fruit plant. Easy read but with great vocabulary and description.

Greenpen

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A sweet book that possibly could have done with more happening. Did make me want to read the next one though. A nice read.

LCorin

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I’m so glad this was recommended to me by one of my pupils. It was brilliant and made me laugh out loud! I have the whole series to enjoy now and will be recommending to my new class.

MrsF

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What a fantastic story! I really enjoyed this story and loved how creative the author is- hatching dragons out of dragon fruit!! The main character Tomas and his dragon Flicker were my favourite!

Amy04

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My Year 1 class loved this book and found it hilarious. I found the style a bit too informal and a few tools many mentions of poo.

Azureteachingcat

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My class loved this story, and it fit perfectly with our dragon topic in year 2.

Missmoxey

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Fiction. In Granddad's garden there is an unusual tree which he wants rid of. His grandson has other ideas when he finds out just what grows on this tree and how this could elevate his status among certain peers at school. Funny, easy to read and instantly appealing due to copious references to poo! Now to use it with my story and craft club! Plenty of ideas and resources online.

KateEmM

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Funny from the start with exciting imagery and interesting vocab to research with the class. You can get lost in the author's magical descriptions- I would have enjoyed getting lost in this imagery as a child. The boy's relationship with his Grandad takes me back to spending hours in my grandparents garden imagining we were in a jungle. The way he introduces the Grandad character by explaining that his eyes twinkle is endearing and you immediately feel safe within the book and want to spend more time in this world. But while this book is hilarious and the boy's narration is fun and witty, you later find out that he and his Grandad share an unexpected tie which gives the book a subtly serious undertone and meaning, adding more depth to the story and makes you love it even more.

MissKBarnett

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What a fun and exciting book for children age 7-8 and over! They will all want a baby dragon after reading this! Well written and pacy.

Fifi33

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A very accessible and enjoyable MG read that I think will work exceptionally well as a read-aloud or class read. The story is engaging and very entertaining and well paced and the illustrations add a quirkiness and expression to the story. It is very original and just a very entertaining twist on a well used theme. Great for challenging readers to develop their own stand alone reading skills too - it is pitched perfectly for this.

Library NLCS (Singapore)

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Very enjoyable. Looking forward to sharing with my class

jolly949

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Fabulous for younger readers. Funny and lots of good vocabulary

LPescott5

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This is a perfect boom for readers first experiencing independent novel reading. It is written in the first person with some illustrations and lots of age appropriate humour. Shepherd uses super descriptive language to bring the story to life and incorporates lots of suspense, urging the reading to read on. Whilst the story focuses around a young boy who, whilst helping his grandfather garden, witnesses a dragon hatch from a dragon fruit and decided to keep it as a pet, it also has some underlying issues around friendship, peer pressures and family life.. I also like that there are sequels to the book, encouraging young readers to engage in more reading about the escapades of Tomas and his new pet dragon. From a teachers perspective, I could see lots of super activities linked to the story to support this book in class. These included writing units and art and science activities. I will most definitely be using this within my year 3/4 class.

jpickering

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Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lots of lovely descriptions of different dragons and it was great to follow along the journey.

MissMook

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