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As I briefly mentioned earlier, the relationship-building between characters such as Tomas and his grandfather is one to savour and this will resonate among many younger (and older!) readers reminding them of the positive relationships, for some whilst growing up, between themselves and their own grandparents or close relatives. In a Nutshell: Even dragons couldn’t save this for me. It has a few merits but becomes boring after a few chapters. Although this is the sixth book in the series, I think it also does stands alone. The main character, our protagonist Tomas, introduces himself and the his ‘excitable idea’ to write ‘The Ultimate Guide to growing Dragons’.
This book is the first in a series aimed at a younger age than I normally read, so it was a very fast read for me. Tomas takes the reader straight into the story when he helps his grandad clear out his overgrown garden and discovers a dragon fruit tree. However, this is not your usual dragon fruit tree, as he finds out when one of his fruits hatches a little dragon! Coolest pet ever! But dragons come with self-combusting poos, specialist diets, and a whole lot of trouble keeping them secret from the grown-ups. Fantastic fire-breathing fun with wonderful illustrations by Sara Ogilvie, this is a lovely new series for anyone who ever wanted a pet dragon - WRD Magazine Their grandad isn’t to be left out though. His love of gardening and desire to share it with his grandson is the reason Tomas is able to grow dragons. I loved how it was shown sometimes kids disappoint the adults in their life and that’s okay. His grandad is pretty fly and supports his grandson in a most loving and subtle way that I really appreciated.
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Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019 - Longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2019
Being from Wales, dragons are an important part of our culture – rooted in our myths and legends to appearing on our national flag – and so from the start, I felt some kind of connection to this book. Identifying with this book is not something that only I will be able to do easily as it’s also something that many readers will immediately feel when reading this too, whether that be through the familiar characters, the everyday settings of home, school and the garden or through the sense of awe, amazement and magic in the dragon-discovery to come… A kind of Pete's Dragon with extra giggles, The Boy Who Grew Dragons takes on the rather hair-singeing challenges of finding that your grandad's garden has suddenly started sprouting fire-breathing mischief-makers and the illustrations by Sara Ogilvie really make it come alive - Waterstones Blog Andy Shepherd's dragon-debut is an absolute delight and is just the very start to a series that I'm sure is going to be a roaring success. It's a series that - pardon the pun - I just want to drag-on and on and on! - The Reader Teacher
About Andy Shepherd
As for Liam, eh. That guy just needs a new hobby in his life. Snooping, stalking, and bullying is just not the way to go. And then there is that thing at the end. Urgh. That is the worst thing that could happen.
Imaginative and charming, The Boy Who Grew Dragons is a wonderfully whimsical story that kept me smiling the whole way through - Books for Topics
A hilarious rip-roaring adventure. Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Cressida Cowell - South Wales Evening Post Seeing more dragons was just such a delight, they all looked adorable, and I would have loved to see them for real. To see them shimmer and glow, to see their colours change. But only that, I don't want to handle those poo bombs. Ewww. *shivers* Oh and not to mention having to keep them away from my precious book babies.
He stared up at me, his twinkling eyes looking right into me. It was like gazing into one of those crystal prisms, where the light is scattered into a rainbow. Fragments of color sparkled and danced around the dragon’s almond-shaped irises. I could have looked into those eyes forever. Then, just for a second, his sharp little claws tightened on my arm again.”Tomas like many kids his age has a small group of friends. I liked that the group was diverse and didn’t revolve around just boys. At the same time I didn’t bond with them. Each child was different and stood out as an individual, but I didn’t spend any quality time with them until the climax of the book. I don’t know that I wanted them to have dragons like Tomas. It also felt presumptuous that he would get them each one. The book is called The Boy Who Grew Dragons so the point was to grow more than one. I just wish it had been developed a bit better. For me, a sign of a good book is that I read it in a couple of days. A sign of a really good book is that I will read it in a day. So I’ll leave it up to you for you to make your own mind up with how I feel about this one, when I need only say that I read it cover-to-cover in an hour. I also liked Tomas' little sister: Lolli, or Charlotte. Sometimes little siblings are annoying, but Lolli was a cute little sister and I loved how she and Tomas worked together. :P Well... mostly Tomas trying to bribe his little sister and turning her words into something different before people found out what she was actually babbling about. But they certainly made a fun pair. Sure to fire up the imagination and a love of reading, this is a series that’s going to be a roaring success. A debut of dragon delight… guaranteed to make children (and adults!) everywhere wish for their own dragon after reading this.’ This is a sumptuous start to a new series, bursting with energy and humour, yet tinged with the darker side of life too. There's a grumpy neighbour, aware but preoccupied parents, an eclectic group of friends, a strange gardening guide, nomenclature of dragon pets - so many facets all covered and explored. A perfect example of domesticity interrupted with a touch of magic. Dragon fruit will never look the same again! - Minerva Reads
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