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My Father's Dragon
(My Father's Dragon #1)
by
Elmer Elevator (narrator's father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of beasts on Wild Island.
...more
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Paperback, 96 pages
Published
December 27th 2005
by Yearling
(first published 1948)
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Julia Zuklie
Not really. It was kind of boring
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of My Father's Dragon (My Father's Dragon, #1)
My Father's Dragon is a childhood favorite that will never get old. It's a perfect read out loud story for young readers. The black and white illustrations are delightful and it's a story that will be enjoyed forever. 5*****
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In the third grade, I met Mrs. Palombi, my favorite teacher ever. She taught us how to churn butter (you sit in a circle, pass around a bottle of heavy cream that everyone takes a turn shaking up, and spread the resulting curds on Ritz crackers), she brought a cotton candy machine to the Fall Festival (during the summer, she ran a beach shack that sold summer treats) and let you “roll your own” as big as you wanted, and every holiday she’d present us with little pins she crocheted herself to com
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Cool classic book with a fairytale logic. The language is a bit dated (it's from the 40s!), and there are threats of violence and real violence that's all a bit much. But my kid who is way too young for this book was riveted and made me read it in one sitting to see the animals and the dragon. So it's definitely doing something well.
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Delightful classic 1948 children's book for the 8-13 age range, with a retro vibe and old-fashioned illustrations. This is a great kid's fantasy about a boy's adventures with his dragon. My kids loved this book (and its two sequels) when they were young.
The narrator tells about his father's adventures when he was a boy. Elmer makes friends with a talking alley cat (talking animals being taken very much for granted here), and the cat tells him about a tropical island called Wild Island, cut nearl ...more
The narrator tells about his father's adventures when he was a boy. Elmer makes friends with a talking alley cat (talking animals being taken very much for granted here), and the cat tells him about a tropical island called Wild Island, cut nearl ...more
Overall, it was a lovely enough book that it is worth a read, but I don't think this is one we will revisit.
Both of my littles sat while we read this one over a few nights. It's not as long as some of the other books we've read so my three year old was able to stick around for most of it. This wasn't a favorite but they did stay engaged. I had heard such wonderful things about the story that I think I was expecting something a little different.
Plus a dragon... I mean, that's gotta be a win right ...more
Both of my littles sat while we read this one over a few nights. It's not as long as some of the other books we've read so my three year old was able to stick around for most of it. This wasn't a favorite but they did stay engaged. I had heard such wonderful things about the story that I think I was expecting something a little different.
Plus a dragon... I mean, that's gotta be a win right ...more
I loved this book as a kid, and I seem to recall it was the first chapter book I ever read. (Upon my discovery of the Table of Contents, I thought its purpose was so that you could go there and decide which chapter you wanted to read instead of having to read through the whole thing.) Years later I remember having loved it, but very little about the story or the characters, so I decided to give this short Newberry winner a quick read, and it was very quick indeed. Told from the point of view of
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Feb 23, 2011
Karen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-with-annabelle
Annabelle give it 4 Stars.
I thought it was a good book.
Why?
Because it was fun.
What made it fun?
The pictures, I loved looking at them.
What else?
The words. I liked reading them to get a chore done.
Would you recommend this book to others to read?
Yeah, I think other people would like this book.
Like who?
I think Adelyn and Trinity might like it.
What would they like about it?
I think they would sort of things some things would be a little silly.
What was silly?
Like, lions using brushes and combs and get ...more
I thought it was a good book.
Why?
Because it was fun.
What made it fun?
The pictures, I loved looking at them.
What else?
The words. I liked reading them to get a chore done.
Would you recommend this book to others to read?
Yeah, I think other people would like this book.
Like who?
I think Adelyn and Trinity might like it.
What would they like about it?
I think they would sort of things some things would be a little silly.
What was silly?
Like, lions using brushes and combs and get ...more
Jun 27, 2019
Faith M ✨
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1st-person,
read-2019,
3rd-person,
mc-boi,
5-stars,
fantasy,
urban-fantasy,
owned,
ethan-recommendations
This was truly delightful! I'm a big fan of children's fantasy, as it turns out, because I loved every minute of this! It's whimsical and magical and really just great. It has the same vibe as The Little Prince, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland, but a bit lighter on the dark themes. It's definitely something I'm going to be reading to my future children.
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My Father's Dragon is a perfect first chapter book to read to your four or five year old because there are pictures on almost every page. The chapters are short and simple, and it moves along at a nice pace. It’s action based, which is what makes it so attractive to younger readers. I think it has special appeal to kids who don’t like to sit still for a book. Both of my sons and my daughter count it as one of their favorite books from childhood.
Briefly, it’s the story of Elmer Elevator, a nine-y ...more
Briefly, it’s the story of Elmer Elevator, a nine-y ...more
okay so recently I haven't read any real books. I apologize but I'm fucking inundated in research on the difference between sex typed traits and sex roles and I"m going crazy enough as it is. I will start actually reading again soon I just needed a moment of calm to get through the storm
recently I've started a habit of rereading. I mean are books as good as I thought? I mean I was historically quite a little idiot (just wait till I reread nothing but the truth). Well this book is. I think a lot ...more
recently I've started a habit of rereading. I mean are books as good as I thought? I mean I was historically quite a little idiot (just wait till I reread nothing but the truth). Well this book is. I think a lot ...more
I got a copy of this book to read with my five year old son. It is a very fun and clever children’s read with some great lessons and some wonderful illustrations.
When Elmer Elevator hears about the plight of a poor overworked baby dragon from an old neighborhood cat he is determined to save the dragon. He travels to Wild Island and, through a series of crazy events, saves the dragon from the animals keeping it prisoner.
This book was first published in 1948 and I am amazed at how well it has aged ...more
When Elmer Elevator hears about the plight of a poor overworked baby dragon from an old neighborhood cat he is determined to save the dragon. He travels to Wild Island and, through a series of crazy events, saves the dragon from the animals keeping it prisoner.
This book was first published in 1948 and I am amazed at how well it has aged ...more
After a hard morning of sickness, I put my cranky 7-year-old son in his bed to rest, and began playing this audiobook from my phone to catch a few minutes of child-free peace. (Not our usual, snuggle-and-read-together, cover-of-parenting-magazine approach to books, but it was one of those "Jesus-take-the-wheel" kind of days.)
When I left, he was whining that he didn't want to be in bed and definitely didn't want to listen to a book, so I promised him he'd only have to listen for fifteen minutes o ...more
When I left, he was whining that he didn't want to be in bed and definitely didn't want to listen to a book, so I promised him he'd only have to listen for fifteen minutes o ...more
Aug 04, 2014
Carmen
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Parents; Children
Recommended to Carmen by:
Alice
Elmer saves an alley cat and feeds her for weeks. In return, the cat - upon hearing Elmer's wish to fly - tells him about a baby dragon that is being held captive on the far off Wild Island.
Elmer sneaks out of his house one night with chewing gum, two dozen pink lollipops, a package of rubber bands, black rubber boots, a compass, a toothbrush and a tube of tooth paste, six magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and a hairbrush, seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty grain b ...more
Elmer sneaks out of his house one night with chewing gum, two dozen pink lollipops, a package of rubber bands, black rubber boots, a compass, a toothbrush and a tube of tooth paste, six magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and a hairbrush, seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty grain b ...more
One of my all-time favorite children's books.
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I feel like the most important detail to know about this book is that there really isn't much dragon in it. It's more about the journey to the dragon, to rescue the dragon, who is at the mercy of a lion, for no very understandable reason. The story is told by the son of the hero, Elmer Elevator, and he does not for a moment doubt the veracity of this childhood tale, and so we don't either. We believe the talkative and sage alley cat who tells Elmer about the captive dragon, Elmer's solo childhoo
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The first book really worried 4-year-old Logan. He didn't understand why the animals were being so mean to the baby dragon and each chapter brought new worries about what the animals would do to the boy. But we'd talk at the beginning of each chapter about how the boy had everything he needed in his bag to deal with situations that came up and then we'd try to guess which of his random collection of stuff he'd need. He liked the second book better. The third book was brought more worries about w
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This is a lovely book, and I liked this audio version even more. It is freely available at Librivox.org, and it is read by the most adorable little boy who does a simply excellent job. Highly recommended for children age 4–8. My five-year-old son enjoyed it very much.
A great first novel to read aloud or with your kids. They will love the adventure and the mischief of all the animals. It's a great novel for reading comprehension and learning about foreshadowing. Highly recommend for your little bookworms!
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Delightful! The short chapters follow a pattern so cale was really able to remember what happened I the story. Only 10 chapters. Great place to begin reading aloud!
Finally got through My Father's Dragon with the restless Meteor. He's more of an action kind of guy as opposed to a boy who can be read to. He'd rather wrestle.
Good first chapter book all around, I suppose. A little boring really. The most interesting thing about it, I thought, was that it's had such a long shelf life, (1948), without my ever having heard of it, (my older boys said that they thought they remembered their 3rd grade teacher reading it to them in class) and that it was written by R ...more
Good first chapter book all around, I suppose. A little boring really. The most interesting thing about it, I thought, was that it's had such a long shelf life, (1948), without my ever having heard of it, (my older boys said that they thought they remembered their 3rd grade teacher reading it to them in class) and that it was written by R ...more
Pleasant little illustrated chapter book. "My Father" sneaks to an animal-ruled island in order to rescue a baby dragon. Will add to review after testing it on the kids....
UPDATE #1:
DS1 (5) & DD1 (3) thought it was great, and liked the way Elmer used his inventory of random objects to triumph over the dangers of the island. Grew on me with re-reading, too. Raising my rating from 3 -> 4.
Available on Gutenberg, despite its relative recency.
The following site has an excellent overview of the book, ...more
UPDATE #1:
DS1 (5) & DD1 (3) thought it was great, and liked the way Elmer used his inventory of random objects to triumph over the dangers of the island. Grew on me with re-reading, too. Raising my rating from 3 -> 4.
Available on Gutenberg, despite its relative recency.
The following site has an excellent overview of the book, ...more
This book was recommended to me by my dear friend (and kindergarten teacher) Megan. We read this over the course of two nights. The kids really loved it, especially Mimi. I had to do a little quick editing in some spots, but I've gotten pretty good at that over the years. It was written in the 1940's, so there were sentences like: 'She whipped my father and threw the cat out the door", which became, 'She punished my father...' when I read it to the kids. Things like that. But the kids really lov
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This was a childhood favorite and one of the first books I remember reading. I actually own a very old copy that belonged to my mother and her sisters when they were young girls.
Several years ago I read this aloud to my two oldest kids and recently realized I needed to read it to my middle son. He loved it, thought it was very funny and is eager for me to read him the next book.
Several years ago I read this aloud to my two oldest kids and recently realized I needed to read it to my middle son. He loved it, thought it was very funny and is eager for me to read him the next book.
I loved these! I think we all did projects based on the series in 2nd grade... =)
A great first chapter book for little ones! My 4.5 year old & I both loved it & couldn't wait for bedtime to read another chapter.
...more
5yo: "Mommy, I think I'm not really into Milly-Molly-Mandy anymore."
Me, saddened: "Why is that?"
5yo: "Because every new book we read makes me think I like it better than all the others I've liked!"
We had a conversation then about how it was okay to like multiple books at a time, but needless to say, the kids (5 and 4) loved My Father's Dragon. They said it was "exciting" and wouldn't stop stealing the book off the counter to sneak looks at the pictures ahead. So they spoiled the ending for thems ...more
Me, saddened: "Why is that?"
5yo: "Because every new book we read makes me think I like it better than all the others I've liked!"
We had a conversation then about how it was okay to like multiple books at a time, but needless to say, the kids (5 and 4) loved My Father's Dragon. They said it was "exciting" and wouldn't stop stealing the book off the counter to sneak looks at the pictures ahead. So they spoiled the ending for thems ...more
I was quite taken aback by how much I liked this story! The writing style is stellar, drawing you in quickly (a plus when reading to younger kiddos!) and the story was entertaining and pure silliness. If you're looking for an excuse to laugh at some absurdities, pull this book out for your next family read! You will need to explain to your kiddos that running away isn't the answer, but otherwise it's loads of fun.
Ages: 6 - 11
Cleanliness: A boy disobeys his mother about keeping a stray cat and th ...more
Ages: 6 - 11
Cleanliness: A boy disobeys his mother about keeping a stray cat and th ...more
Great read aloud for my 4yo boy. It lost a star for me bc talk of killing and “tear you apart” by the animals. The boy has clever ways to out wit scary animals. It was our first chapter book and the chapter ends were perfect to keep him excited and interested. This is an OLD book 1940’s so lots of new to him vocabulary words and a slight history lesson. This is book one of a trilogy and the title is a bit of a misnomer because he doesn’t actually need the dragon into the last chapter but there’s
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This was a cute story that I read to my kids. There are just a few pictures that sort of helped my 3 year old stay engaged but she was mostly distracted. My 5 year old loved it though and was so excited to read our two chapters each night. The little boy in the story is always coming up with creative ways to overcome the challenges he faces in the book.
This is a children’s book about a young boy who travels to a mysterious island and has to conquer various animals before he can reach the dragon. Truthfully I found the storyline to be a bit confusing.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice Mylod-Vargas Review #7 | 1 | 6 | Apr 03, 2019 09:05PM |
Readers also enjoyed
Ruth Stiles Gannett wrote My Father's Dragon just a few years after her graduation from Vassar College in 1944.
She lives in Upstate New York.
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She lives in Upstate New York.
...more
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4 trivia questions
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“Island and Tangerina are joined together by a long string of rocks, but people never go to Wild Island because it’s mostly jungle and inhabited by very wild animals. So, I decided to go across the rocks and explore it for myself. It certainly is an interesting place, but I saw something there that made me want to weep.”
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“the way around the beginning”
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