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 Imaginative and charming, The Boy Who Grew Dragons is a wonderfully whimsical story that kept me smiling the whole way through - Books for Topics In a Nutshell: Even dragons couldn’t save this for me. It has a few merits but becomes boring after a few chapters.

A hilarious rip-roaring adventure. Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Cressida Cowell - South Wales Evening Post He stared up at me, his twinkling eyes looking right into me. It was like gazing into one of those crystal prisms, where the light is scattered into a rainbow. Fragments of color sparkled and danced around the dragon’s almond-shaped irises. I could have looked into those eyes forever. Then, just for a second, his sharp little claws tightened on my arm again.” 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. 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.I could probably talk about this book longer, but I will just end it with that everyone should read this wonderful, hilarious, warm, sweet book about dragons, gardening, friendship, and more dragons!

This is a sumptuous start to a new series, bursting with energy and humour, yet tinged with the darker side of life too. There's a grumpy neighbour, aware but preoccupied parents, an eclectic group of friends, a strange gardening guide, nomenclature of dragon pets - so many facets all covered and explored. A perfect example of domesticity interrupted with a touch of magic. Dragon fruit will never look the same again! - Minerva Reads

Reviews

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 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. 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. So, who wants to grow dragons ? Dumb question, right? I mean seriously, who in their right mind would say no? Not me, that’s for sure. And not you by the looks of it. But if you want to grow dragons, you need to know what you’re getting into. Sure, they’re fiery, fantastical, and dazzling, but dragons are not all fun and games. Not by a long shot. And it’s not just the fire and the flammable poo I’m talking about. Oh no! Which is why, my dragon-seeking desperados, I’m writing this all down, so at least you can go into it with your eyes open. Because, believe me, you’ll need them to stay wide, wide open.”

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. 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. Tomas like many kids his age has a small group of friends. I liked that the group was diverse and didn’t revolve around just boys. At the same time I didn’t bond with them. Each child was different and stood out as an individual, but I didn’t spend any quality time with them until the climax of the book. I don’t know that I wanted them to have dragons like Tomas. It also felt presumptuous that he would get them each one. The book is called The Boy Who Grew Dragons so the point was to grow more than one. I just wish it had been developed a bit better. 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 MagazineThis 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. 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. So much to explore within this book - the richness of language, the relationships between the characters, the adventures, the knowledge. 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. 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’.