The Dragon and Her Boy by Penny Chrimes

Synopsis

When Stick discovers there is a dragon living underneath the streets of London, he finds himself unintentionally drawn into an epic adventure and a quest -- but how can he find a place for a dragon to live in London when dragons aren't supposed to exist? And with foes at every corner who want to exploit the dragon for themselves, it's going to take a daring plan for Stick to find a safe place for his dragon -- and for himself.

Cover illustration

Review

The cover illustration filled me with enthusiasm to read this book. The huge dazzling dragon and the little boy reaching up to touch her filled my head with thoughts of adventure, before I even started reading. I love the title too!

Set in London, and not being far from there myself, I am familiar with some old fashioned London ‘type’ colloquialism and there is a lot of it in this book! I found this interesting and once I got involved with the story, it became quite normal and part of the characters charms. The language is used to set the scene and really drew me in to the story. There is a section of the back of the book entitled ‘ Sticks guide to gutterling’ which is an great addition, and also adds a bit of fun!

The protagonist Stick, is well liked by other characters in this story, and we soon begin to realise why. He is brave and confident and his friendship with the Dragon is gorgeous! They have an unlikely bond, and we love them throughout the story.

There are elements of this book, which I believe would fit better with the older end of the middle grade, as there are references to death, hanging and abuse. That sounds a bit scary but they are subtle and I think that in the context of the story, they work well,  but it is worth noting they are present.

Although dark in places, this book is full of humour! I really enjoyed the Gutterlings banter with each other and the repartee between Stick and the Dragon.

There are references in the book to Penny Chrimes first novel ‘Tiger Heart’, but you can read this as a stand-alone book. I haven’t read it myself yet, but I hope to read the ‘Tiger Heart’ soon. 

I would recommend this book to children of the older middle grade, moving onto young adult fiction. 

Publisher: Hatchett Children’s

ISBN: 9781510107120

Publication date: 18th Feb 2021