Johnny's Dragon
Digital version – browse, print or download
Can't see the preview?
Click here!
How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.
BfK Newsletter
Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!
Cover Story
Cover illustration and those on these pages from Football Crazy by Colin McNaughton, Piccolo £1.25 0 330 26747 7 (published April 1982). Also available in hardback from Heinemann, 434 94991 4, £4.95. We are grateful to Piccolo for their help in reproducing this illustration in full colour.
Johnny's Dragon
Anthea Bell
Sustained stories for six-to-nines need to be sought out and it's good to have writers from other countries to enrich our stock. This one, beautifully translated, is about Johnny, teased and taunted at school, and not too good at Maths. His luck and his self-image change when he meets a strange little dragon whom Johnny teaches to read and write. By the end of the story Johnny has learned to stand up for himself. It's well told, with wit and immediate characterisation. Mary Rahn's pictures are unusual and effective: black and white, near-photographs, but catching the imaginative quality of the story.