There’s a Dragon in my Dinner!

Tom Nicoll's There's a Dragon in my Dinner is a funny chapter book for 7 year olds about a boy who finds a talking dragon in a box of free beansprouts.

What happens

Eric only opens the beansprouts to see what they taste like (not great, it turns out). Inside is a tiny green dragon that he takes for a free toy. A little while later the toy is sitting on the end of his bed, reading his comics.

His name is Pan and he's a Mini-Dragon, which is NOT the same as a small dragon, as he'll happily tell you. His parents posted him off to his aunt and uncle in Mexico. He's ended up in England instead.

Pan is a brilliant character. He's proud, a bit clueless and quite sure he can fly. He can't, and his first go around Eric's bedroom is one of the funniest bits. He's amazing at video games, though. And weeding. And eating Eric's school uniform out of the laundry basket.

That's a real problem, because Eric's parents have a rule. Three strikes before his ninth birthday and there's no Thunderbolt scooter. Every time Pan causes chaos, Eric gets another step closer to losing it.

Then there's Toby next door, who always gets what he wants and has decided he wants Pan. Luckily Eric has his best mate Jayden, and Min, whose family's takeaway sent the beansprouts in the first place.

It's full of daft jokes, from a very grumpy cat to a toddler who tries to eat Pan's tail. There's a burp that comes out as fire too (and a trick with a fart that's probably best left for your reader to discover). Eric tells it all in a chatty, easy voice, and underneath the silliness it's a lovely story about being a good friend.

It's a proper chapter book told by a boy who's nearly nine, so at the younger end of this shelf it will work best as a read-aloud. Children reading on their own will zip through it.

What to read next

When they're ready for more, Eric and Pan's next adventure is There's a Dragon in my Backpack! This time Pan finally talks Eric into taking him to school.