The Dragonsitter: Trick or Treat?

A dragon swallows an engagement ring days before Halloween in Josh Lacey's very funny Dragonsitter story for 6 year olds, Trick or Treat?

What happens

Eddie badly needs a new computer. The old one groans, the screen has gone wobbly and the space bar keeps falling off. First prize in the costume competition at the Halloween Parade is a brand-new one.

So he writes to Uncle Morton and asks to borrow his dragons. Who's going to beat a boy who turns up with two real ones?

Uncle Morton is too busy getting ready to hunt for Bigfoot, so Gordon drives Ziggy and Arthur down from Scotland instead. Gordon is very keen on Eddie's mum. That same afternoon he gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him.

Mum is too stunned to speak. And in that little gap Arthur zooms across the room, grabs the ring and gulps it down. (It belonged to Gordon's great-aunt Isla, who wore it every day for sixty-seven years.)

Mum's rule is simple. No ring, no parade. So the whole house waits for Arthur to poo. Figs, apricots, sausages and a spoon of cod liver oil he won't go near. Granny even tries holding him upside down and shaking him, which her new shoes don't enjoy one bit.

It's told in emails, mostly from Eddie to his uncle, with subject lines like Blockage and Zombie attack. Eddie reports total chaos in the calmest voice, and your reader will be giggling long before he notices anything is funny. Arthur also wees on the carpet, Eddie explains, and then adds "Arthur, I mean, not Gordon" just to be clear.

There's a LOT of poo in this one. If you've got a reader who thinks a dragon that won't poo is the funniest thing ever, they're going to love it.

There's warmth under the silliness too. It's just Eddie, Emily and Mum at home, and money is tight. Gordon is kind to everyone, and Granny has an opinion on everything (mostly about Uncle Morton never visiting).

It's a short book and each email is quick to read, so a child who's just getting going on their own could happily whizz through it.

What to read next

If the Halloween chaos goes down well, The Dragonsitter's Castle has Eddie in charge of the same two dragons over Christmas and New Year, this time in his dad's freezing castle in Wales.