My Father's Dragon

Read this book! Written by Ruth Stiles Gannett (stepdaughter to the illustrator Ruth Chrisman Gannett in 1948, this story is fantastical and unlike anything I’ve read before. Perhaps it’s the style of writing, or the age of the writing, but I felt drawn to this book. The story is told from a third person perspective, a young boy or girl is writing about his/her father, Elmer Elevator, and his adventures on the Island of Tangerina and Wild Island. Like many fantasy books, this one begins with a map of the new islands, but also offers commentary from the author.

Now, Elmer Elevator has some pretty strange things happen to him. In the course of his daily routine, he comes upon a talking cat. Though the cat only talks to him, Elmer and the cat plan a fantastical trip to Wild Island, where they must rescue a captured dragon. This dragon has been captured by the creatures on the island to serve as a bridge. The cat, being the traveler that he is, has seen this and strongly urges Elmer to right this injustice. So together they go about packing unusual things for this unusual venture.

A fast paced 87 pages, this is a Newberry Honor book that is a lot of fun. The chapters are great for repetition, as they are almost all framed similarly. It is also great for predicting and pulling out main ideas. I got to use this book with 4^th and 5^th graders last summer, and they really seemed to enjoy this story, with the odd animal characters and the child protagonist who is close to their age. There are two sequels to this story, but I have not read either. They are called Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland.