The Dragonsitter Takes Off

Josh Lacey's The Dragonsitter Takes Off is a funny story in emails for 6 year olds, about a dragon who crawls into the linen cupboard and won't come out.

What happens

Eddie's family is dragonsitting for Uncle Morton again. This time he's off on a yoga retreat where phones and computers are banned, so good luck getting a reply.

After one night, Ziggy the dragon has vanished. She turns up in the linen cupboard, nested in Mum's clean sheets. When Mum tries to pull her out by the nose, she nearly gets her hand burnt off!

Ziggy refuses to budge. She won't eat a thing, not even a malted milk ball. Eddie is worried she's depressed (and a bit cross, because he'd planned to take her into school for show-and-tell).

Then Eddie finds out why Ziggy has been so keen on all those warm towels. No spoilers here, but it's the best surprise of his life, and Uncle Morton feels VERY silly.

And then a second dragon turns up. An enormous one. It lands on the roof, knocks the satellite dish into the garden and refuses to leave. The family can't even get out of the front door to go to school (Eddie is delighted until Mum makes them do homework all morning instead).

It's every bit as funny as the first book. The subject lines are brilliant, Eddie's voice stays wonderfully calm while the house falls apart, and Mum is a total hero with a broom.

It's worth knowing that there's some fiery peril. The big dragon breaks down the back door and wrecks the living room, and the family hide in the bathroom. Eddie's mum and dad also live apart, which comes up in passing. It's all light, but a sensitive reader might want a hug at the scary bit.

As for the title? Yes, somebody really does take off, and it's the most exciting page in the book.

It's the American edition, so it's Mom, closet and yard all the way through.

What to read next

If your reader hasn't met this dragon before, the very first Dragonsitter book is where it all started, the week Uncle Morton dropped his dragon off and then went very quiet.