A Dragon in a Wagon

by Lynley Dodd

When Susie Fogg takes her dog for a walk, she dreams of having a more exciting pet. Something huge, fierce or odd, like a dragon in a wagon. She soon gets carried away by her imagination. An imaginative, rhyming and wonderfully silly picture book that children will adore.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Dame Lynley Dodd is an internationally celebrated writer for children whose titles are highly regarded and much loved by her readers in New Zealand and around the world. Her stories are known for their lively sound qualities, curious animal characters, and the memorable illustrations that accompany the text. Lynley has received numerous awards, both for her writing and illustration, and in 2002 she was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to children’s literature.

Lynley was a founding member of Bookrapt in 1983.

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'm coming at this story from an adult's POV, I didn't think much of it.

The moral is good, the illustrations are great, and fun to look at, but without the illustrations the story sort of falls down.

Rhyming is wonderful, and so is whimsy, but this story seems half-baked.

Sad to see so many people feel the cover art has misrepresented the book, which now I've read other reviews and realised that, I agree!

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linley Dodd rhymes quite well
Her books are very swell
Ahem before I continue down that path, another great little rhyming picture book from Dodd, great fun here, kids should love it.
We should be thankful for authors like Lynley Dodd who give us great little gifts of poetry like these.

[Suresh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl with a dream, a unique dream, of animal streams, challenging, curvy and big. How will she manage all her animal dreams? No matter, for her faithful, friendly canine companion is there to save her, as she always has.
A beautiful, heart warming tale.

[Libby Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl imagines what it would be like if her dog were a certain kind of pet.

Fun illustrations. Felt a bit like too close of a spin off of Silverstein’s “Giraffe and a Half” which is a favorite at our house.

Recommended for 2-4 to foster imagination. Do check out Silverstein too though.

[Bash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this for my nephew's birthday and gave it a read. Just as good as I remember it from when I was a youngin :)

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of the edition we have of this book shows a child dressed as a knight pulling a dragon in a wagon. Like many boys, my son went through a knight phase, sometime after pirates, so we thought this story would be just the job. Actually is badly misnamed and should more accurately have been called "Susie Fogg's Daydream Log" so as to not misrepresent itself. Ignore me, I'm being picky; what I am trying to say is that we were a bit disappointed that it wasn't about dragons and knights. In fact it is the story of Susie Fogg who "dreamed a wishful dream" of what pet she might have instead of her faithful dog. It is a nice story, with Lynley Dodd's wonderfully executed illustrations and some really funny alternative pets ("a gnu/with the flu" anyone?). Despite my disingenuous comments it is a good one to help reinforce early literacy skills as the rhyming couplets encourage children to anticipate the following word.

[Zainab Jalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susie takes her dog for a walk and dreams of having a pet that’s huge, or fierce, or odd, just for a change. Should she have a dragon in a wagon? Or a snake that eats cake? Susie dreams of all the pets that she can imagine and settles with the idea that her per dog Sam is the one she would prefer.
Fiction picture book, developing phonological awareness, and whole text rhyming. Exuberant art work and bouncy rhymes come together perfectly. As well as being a visual delight it is a great book for children and adults to read aloud. Good for whole class reading in KS1 to develop phonological awareness and can be used as a starting point to construct own poems.

[Joe Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Susie is out walking with her dog, Sam, she suddenly has all these wishes to not have a plain old dog but amazing, wonderful animals.
This is one of my all time favourite children's book.
It is very witty and has great rhyming sentences.
It also has a couple of lessons and morals such as the human need to have bigger better things or just not daydreaming while walking.
This book ticks off my "picture book" box on my bingo board.

[Laura Dobb · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rhyming book that's about a girl thinking about what other pets she could have other than her dog Sam. This book is fine but my little boy wanted it as he loves dragons, well the dragon Is only on one page and never seen again, thoroughly disappointed 3 year old. Writing style is fine though and probably enjoyable for children wanting a nice easy to read book

[Gloria Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant imaginative book.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great imaginary story where a girl thinks her dog could be other animals

[Julie]

Saw an exhibit of Linley Dodd's illustrations and I particularly liked the ones in this book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susie daydreamed about having an odd and unusual pet - such as a dragon - instead of her lovable dog Sam. Lovely illustrations.

[Huda Fel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another rhyming book