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The Adventures of Egg Box Dragon
From the author of Watership Down, comes a picture book about the adventures of a mischievous homemade dragon.
Whatever you've lost, Egg Box Dragon will find it. He's retrieved missing footballs, glasses and watches aplenty. He's so expert at cracking mysteries that the Queen herself requests his services. Will Egg Box Dragon find the missing diamond from the Queen's crown?
Whatever you've lost, Egg Box Dragon will find it. He's retrieved missing footballs, glasses and watches aplenty. He's so expert at cracking mysteries that the Queen herself requests his services. Will Egg Box Dragon find the missing diamond from the Queen's crown?
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2017
About the author
Richard Adams
85 books2,444 followersAdams was born in Newbury, Berkshire. From 1933 until 1938 he was educated at Bradfield College. In 1938 he went up to Worcester College, Oxford to read Modern History. On 3 September 1939 Neville Chamberlain announced that the United Kingdom was at war with Germany. In 1940 Adams joined the British Army, in which he served until 1946. He received a class B discharge enabling him to return to Worcester to continue his studies for a further two years (1946-48). He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and of Master of Arts in 1953.
He was a senior civil servant who worked as an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Agriculture, later part of the Department of the Environment, from 1948 to 1974. Since 1974, following publication of his second novel, Shardik, he has been a full-time author.
He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters, Juliet and Rosamund, and they insisted he publish it as a book. It took two years to write and was rejected by thirteen publishers. When Watership Down was finally published, it sold over a million copies in record time in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Watership Down has become a modern classic and won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972. To date, Adams' best-known work has sold over 50 million copies world-wide, earning him more than all his other books put together.
As of 1982, he was President of the RSPCA.
He also contested the 1983 general election, standing as an Independent Conservative in the Spelthorne constituency on a platform of opposition to fox hunting.
He was a senior civil servant who worked as an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Agriculture, later part of the Department of the Environment, from 1948 to 1974. Since 1974, following publication of his second novel, Shardik, he has been a full-time author.
He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters, Juliet and Rosamund, and they insisted he publish it as a book. It took two years to write and was rejected by thirteen publishers. When Watership Down was finally published, it sold over a million copies in record time in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Watership Down has become a modern classic and won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972. To date, Adams' best-known work has sold over 50 million copies world-wide, earning him more than all his other books put together.
As of 1982, he was President of the RSPCA.
He also contested the 1983 general election, standing as an Independent Conservative in the Spelthorne constituency on a platform of opposition to fox hunting.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 6, 2023
A nice picture book for children.
May 22, 2019
Fun! Loved the pictures too!
July 1, 2026
I wish we all had an Egg Box Dragon in our lives too to help us find our missing things.
May 24, 2023
3.5 stars
I loved the illustration and the concept. But I felt the story could have been taken further - I was expecting more naughtiness from the dragon (i.e. maybe the reason he was able to find everything was because he'd hidden it).Promised a lot but I would have liked it to hook me in a bit more. I would still have enjoyed this as a child though and appreciated the illustrator had chosen to draw female royal guards and bulters and that the Queen was black. I also think this book would mean children could make their very own egg-box dragons. Which would be a lot of fun.
I loved the illustration and the concept. But I felt the story could have been taken further - I was expecting more naughtiness from the dragon (i.e. maybe the reason he was able to find everything was because he'd hidden it).Promised a lot but I would have liked it to hook me in a bit more. I would still have enjoyed this as a child though and appreciated the illustrator had chosen to draw female royal guards and bulters and that the Queen was black. I also think this book would mean children could make their very own egg-box dragons. Which would be a lot of fun.
April 3, 2018
When a girl makes a dragon and hears about a magical way to give him life, of course she goes for it!
First a thank you to my boyfriend for reading this one to/for me when I felt absolute crappy yesterday (I somehow managed a manga and another picture book, but this one was just a step too far it seems).
I am so happy that Library #2 is finally adding some more English book to its very meagre collection. This one was one of the latest additions and I just needed to read it. I love dragons, I love picture books, I love books with magic.
This was a fun and magical book about a girl who made her own dragon out of all sorts of materials (eggboxes, reflectors, anything really). At first she is pretty satisfied with her dragon being as he is, but then she hears about a special thing that one can do to bring life into those without life.
Of course our girl immediately goes to try it out (who wouldn't, I would have done the same if I had the chance). And it works! After that they have tons of adventures as it seems our dragon can find everyone's missing stuff. I quite liked that part. A detective-ish dragon? How fun! It was quite nice that he seemed to gain more popularity with each found item. Even the queen heard of our tiny dragon!
The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It just felt like there were pages missing out of my book. That is how it ends? With a hedge and a hole? Wow. I had a few things I expected but none of them was this lacklustre.
The art was quite nice, but then again, it was to be expected with Alex T. Smith drawing them. He sure draws nice eggbox dragons.
All in all, a pretty nice read, just a shame about the ending. If that was different, or if the book was given a few more pages I would have rated it higher.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
First a thank you to my boyfriend for reading this one to/for me when I felt absolute crappy yesterday (I somehow managed a manga and another picture book, but this one was just a step too far it seems).
I am so happy that Library #2 is finally adding some more English book to its very meagre collection. This one was one of the latest additions and I just needed to read it. I love dragons, I love picture books, I love books with magic.
This was a fun and magical book about a girl who made her own dragon out of all sorts of materials (eggboxes, reflectors, anything really). At first she is pretty satisfied with her dragon being as he is, but then she hears about a special thing that one can do to bring life into those without life.
Of course our girl immediately goes to try it out (who wouldn't, I would have done the same if I had the chance). And it works! After that they have tons of adventures as it seems our dragon can find everyone's missing stuff. I quite liked that part. A detective-ish dragon? How fun! It was quite nice that he seemed to gain more popularity with each found item. Even the queen heard of our tiny dragon!
The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It just felt like there were pages missing out of my book. That is how it ends? With a hedge and a hole? Wow. I had a few things I expected but none of them was this lacklustre.
The art was quite nice, but then again, it was to be expected with Alex T. Smith drawing them. He sure draws nice eggbox dragons.
All in all, a pretty nice read, just a shame about the ending. If that was different, or if the book was given a few more pages I would have rated it higher.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
May 4, 2026
Egg cartons box turns into a WHOLE DRAGON This book follows the events the dragon creation partakes when it is brought to life. The amount of imagination used to create such a book is amazing and how it came to life due to the light rays from the moons. The opinion I have about this book is great because even though the dragon made lots of holes from its burns, they still took him in as family. It shares how creative one can be as the material used to make the dragon were quite random. The first theme I noticed was creativity as the dragon was created through a child’s imagination. The other theme was problem-solving as the main adventure of the dragon was finding the jewelry that was lost by the queen. The main genre of this book is adventure. The children who read this book could learn how creation can be made out of anything and the concept of being the savior of the day. This was a WOW book as I loved it because of the material used to make the dragon as it relates to my own personal experience of when I was a kid, I made a version of Pokémon card with card bored and paper.
The first technique that was noticeable was Onomatopoeia and once it was demonstrated was when the queen picked up the ringing phone and it enhanced the story by visualizing the sound effects into our mind. The second technique was suspension, and this was demonstrated when everyone went into full panic mode trying to find the jewel and how it could not be found. This made the book better as it gave the reader fear to see if they were going to ever find it again.
I would consider this book anti-biased as there were no stereotypes found and the character throughout the story were very diverse.
The first technique that was noticeable was Onomatopoeia and once it was demonstrated was when the queen picked up the ringing phone and it enhanced the story by visualizing the sound effects into our mind. The second technique was suspension, and this was demonstrated when everyone went into full panic mode trying to find the jewel and how it could not be found. This made the book better as it gave the reader fear to see if they were going to ever find it again.
I would consider this book anti-biased as there were no stereotypes found and the character throughout the story were very diverse.
July 20, 2021
This was such a cute book, however the story start has a bit of a rough transition to the actual point of the book. It feels like there was some choppy editing in terms of getting from the magical creation of egg box dragon to his big skill as a problem solver. It actually kind of introduces him as a mischief maker and that’s where I thought the book was going, but it went in a totally different direction. I appreciate the British bits of the story so maybe there’s something I am culturally missing in my understanding as an American.
Regardless my toddler really likes this book especially the roaring parts.
Regardless my toddler really likes this book especially the roaring parts.
March 28, 2025
Emma creates a dragon out of egg boxes and other crafting supplies. After putting him in the moonlight he comes to life and while he creates a bit of havoc, he also displays a talent for finding things. So when the Queen loses a crown jewel diamond, she calls on Egg Box Dragon to help find it.
A lightly humorous and very imaginative fantasy mystery tale from the author who is better known for Watership Down. I definitely didn't expect the magical ability that the dragon developed or where it would take him. Alex T. Smith was the perfect illustrator for this book; his drawings helped convey the humor and quirkiness of the tale.
A lightly humorous and very imaginative fantasy mystery tale from the author who is better known for Watership Down. I definitely didn't expect the magical ability that the dragon developed or where it would take him. Alex T. Smith was the perfect illustrator for this book; his drawings helped convey the humor and quirkiness of the tale.
April 9, 2025
A young girl crafts a dragon out of an egg carton and other materials. The egg box dragon comes to life and has a special ability to find lost things, that makes it's reputation spread far and wide, all the way to the queen!
This is a cute read. I wish there were instructions in the back on how to make an egg box dragon, as I'm sure there would be some kids who would be inspired to make their own.
This is a cute read. I wish there were instructions in the back on how to make an egg box dragon, as I'm sure there would be some kids who would be inspired to make their own.
June 29, 2023
Egg Box Dragon is constructed out of egg boxes, and when Emma brings him home, the gardener says that Egg Box Dragon has magic. Although a bit mischief, Egg Box Dragon's magic was that he could find lost items. His reputation became know far and wide, and when the Queen loses her most precious diamond, Egg Box Dragon is summoned to help find it. A fun story to be enjoyed by all.
September 29, 2018
3.5 stars for this quirky story. Love Alex T. Smith's illustrations!
May 10, 2019
I want to make an egg box dragon!
May 21, 2019
A young girl creates a dragon out of an egg box who comes to life and is great at finding things for people. Elementary and up.
June 5, 2019
Cute story - the illustrations are really great
July 17, 2019
The illustrations are the strongest part of the book.
September 23, 2019
If you could ignore the constant fire hazard, this world be a handy little creature to keep around!
October 2, 2019
Fun and effervescent. Pleasant foolishness.
January 7, 2020
Not bad. Didn't love the ending.
November 23, 2020
My 2nd grader liked this one.
June 8, 2021
Story was ok but great launching point for sparking imagination and craft activity.
August 6, 2021
Adorable illustrations and a fun story. My daughter wasn't a fan of the ending, but enjoyed the rest. (It was a bit anticlimactic).
December 20, 2021
This book was … interesting. Pretty cute, loved the illustrations, but the story was incohesive and the ending was rough. 2.5 stars
January 28, 2023
We think it was a cute good story and we would like to have a tiny pet dragon with his particular skillset.
January 12, 2024
Best story I've ever read
December 22, 2024
A beautiful book about what happens when a homemade dragon comes to life. It's sure to inspire creativity in its readers!
June 6, 2025
Could inspire readers to make their own egg box dragon.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews