The Boy Who Flew with Dragons

Andy Shepherd's The Boy Who Flew with Dragons is a warm, very funny dragon story for 8 year olds about a promise that's getting harder and harder to keep.

What happens

Tomas has a dragon called Flicker. His best friends Ted, Kat and Kai have dragons too, all grown on the dragon-fruit tree at the bottom of Grandad's garden. And Grandad has made Tomas promise something awful. Once the family birthdays are over, the dragons have to go.

This isn't the first book about Tomas and his dragons, and it picks the story up partway through. If your reader is new to them, it's best to start at the beginning with The Boy Who Grew Dragons.

Of course Tomas hasn't told his friends about the deal. And he can't let the dragons go yet anyway. His little sister Lolli is about to turn three, and he's secretly planning the best birthday present ever (can you guess?).

Lolli's party is a highlight. Thirty-three three-year-olds, four excitable dragons, a chocolate fountain and a bouncy castle that doesn't stand a chance. It's total chaos and it's brilliantly funny.

Then comes Halloween. The friends dress up as superheroes, with their dragons providing the special effects. Tomas goes as Captain Brain (nobody guesses). Things get out of hand, and Flicker turns out to have a talent nobody knew about.

Underneath all the fun there's a real question. Is keeping the dragons fair on the dragons? Kat starts to worry they're missing their chance to go home. Tomas keeps dreaming of volcanoes, glaciers and a hidden city in a forest. And there's a map that might show where the dragons really belong.

Tomas tells it himself and he's great company. He's got a head full of ideas and an imagination that runs away with him. At one point he's feeling sorry for an imaginary elephant in a bobble hat! There's plenty of exploding dragon poo too.

Grandad has a fall early on and breaks his hip, which really worries Tomas. He's in hospital for a little while, but it's all handled gently.

What to read next

If they love the idea of a boy and his dragon, try Tomas and Ironskin from the Dragon Storm series. It's a different Tomas, a blacksmith's son this time, who starts seeing a dragon's face in the flames of the forge.