Tomas enlists the help from his friends, The Superhero Squad, who are currently scattered all over the world to both help write pieces for the guide, but also to help with ideas for the current problem Tomas has. Irresistible... everything you want in a book for a newly independent reader - tender realism, honouring children's inner feelings and anarchic magic, both beautiful and regrettable. Sara Ogilvie's illustrations capture both enchantment and stench... A modern classic - The Guardian Imaginative and charming, The Boy Who Grew Dragons is a wonderfully whimsical story that kept me smiling the whole way through - Books for Topics 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. So much to explore within this book - the richness of language, the relationships between the characters, the adventures, the knowledge.

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 an early middle grade book. It’s reminiscent of a chapter book to me. This format has to be taken into account as we aren’t going going to get as fleshed story as a teen or adult might want. There is a bullying element I wanted more of, that felt like it was left hanging. I suspect we’ll get more of it in future books. Each book of the series advances the story, so by its very nature The Boy Who Grew Dragons is setup. Quite good setup, but it left me wanting more. Which is a good thing for middle grade readers. This was just a terrific, wonderful, amazing, magical book about a boy who, while gardening with his grandpa, stumbles upon a dragon-fruit tree. But oh, not that kind of dragon fruit, this one actually contains dragons! Oh my! A wonderful, beautiful story that is filled with wonderful cast, the relationships between Tomas, his grandparents and his baby sister is adorable. They are a wonderful family and Tomas, even though things are happening around the house that he can't explain and has to keep a dragon secret from his family, it was just adorable to read about their relationship. 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…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’. 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 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 Liam and also Grim were just terrible. They were great villains though. Liam at school (what a bully), and Grim as the next door neighbours of Tomas' grandparents. Yes, I get that Grim wasn't happy with what happened in his garden, but you are certainly not helping your case by acting like a bully.

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. Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019 - Longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2019 A proper children's book... the humour and Sara Ogilvie's illustrations are just right - New Statesman 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.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. Shepherd delights in describing crazy situations, and the book's heartfelt message is one of care and friendship - Literary Review

I did love the illustration at the end showing Tomas’ bully. I won’t reveal what it shows, but it says to me that there is some enlightening commentary on bullying to come. 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. My thanks to Piccadilly Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Boy Who Grew Dragons”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. In a Nutshell: Even dragons couldn’t save this for me. It has a few merits but becomes boring after a few chapters.

Reviews

A hilarious rip-roaring adventure. Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Cressida Cowell - South Wales Evening Post 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

It is through these features that I know that this book will be a catalyst for reading for young readers, because this tail(!) is sure to fire up the imagination and a love for reading as it will claw its way not only in to the minds of its readers but also in to their hearts. Even though it is thoroughly entertaining, I particularly like that it also shows a softer, warmer, friendlier side to dragons which is slightly different to what sometimes is typified in many other stories that children read or films that they may watch of dragons being beasts and monsters to fear and flee from. 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. The story is a heartwarming account of one boy's struggle to look after a mythical creature whilst juggling the reality of life at school and at home with lots of laugh-out-loud funny moments and peppered with bold illusstrations that will keep young readers enthralled - The School Librarian In this story we follow Tomas. He finds a mysterious tree at the bottom of his grandparents garden. He doesn't know what to expect, or that hidden behind the strange fruit a dragon is waiting to hatch. A piece of fruit is about to change his life forever. His life is about to get a little bit more fun, exciting and maybe a little bit dangerous. This is a charming and funny little story. Tomas' narration has a conversational voice that reminds me of a boy I know, even down to how he copies phrases and expressions he's heard adults use and acts a bit dramatic. Tomas has a lot of personality but is sweet and caring, too, and I loved his relationships with his grandfather and his little sister -- they were all adorable. It's especially always nice to see positive sibling relationships.The art? Well it is Sara Ogilvie, I just adore her art. And it fits so so well with this book, her dragons are amazingly cute. It was one of the 3 reasons why I bought this book (the first one being dragons, the second gardening in combination with that first). 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. Awwwwww. I bet you want one now too no matter your age. A lot of time is spent with Tomas bonding with his new little pet. I felt like this was smart because we feel like we’re bonding with our new dragon too. It also gives kids reading a sense of the responsibility that a pet brings to their life. Sure, a pet is fun and a firm friend but you also have to take care of them. As you can probably tell from the quote I loved this book. It’s dragon lore is quite creative with little twists from your typical dragonology. It’s all just enough to tantalize any dragon lover, but in particular young dragon lovers who think they know all about dragons. The Boy Who Grew Dragons delivers fun twists and sets it up in a normal boy’s life. I can’t help but feel more interested in exotic fruit and gardening too.