A touching classic story of a dragon who doesn’t want to do any of the frightening things dragons should do. Published in a handsome 70th anniversary edition with the original illustrations.
The LoveReading Comment:
This is a funny story of bravery, friendship and derring-do between a young boy and a dragon who he finds living above his home. The two become close companions but the town folk are scared and call upon St George to kill the dragon in combat. This however, proves rather tricky when the dragon simply won’t fight! First published 70 years ago, this is a timeless children’s classic from Kenneth Grahame, the author of The Wind in the Willows and beautifully illustrated by Ernest H. Shepherd who of course is synonymous with the drawings of Winnie the Pooh and of course The Wind in the Willows.
'Now, dragon,' said the Boy imploringly. 'You've got to fight him some time or other you know, 'cos he's St George and you're the dragon. Better get it over, and then we can go on with the sonnets.' Everyone knows St George has to do battle with the dragon, but what happens when the dragon simply won't fight St George?
Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but in early childhood, after being orphaned, moved to live with his grandmother on the banks of the River Thames in southern England. He was an outstanding pupil at St Edward's School in Oxford and wanted to attend Oxford University but was not allowed to do so by his guardian on grounds of cost. Instead he was sent to work at the Bank of England in 1879, and rose through the ranks until retiring as its Secretary in 1908 due to ill health. In addition to ill health, Grahame's retirement was precipitated in 1903 by a strange, possibly political, shooting incident at the bank. Grahame was shot at three times, all of them missed. Grahame's marriage to Elspeth Thomson was an unhappy one. They had only one child, a boy named Alastair, who was born blind in one eye and was plagued by health problems throughout his short life. Alastair eventually committed suicide on a railway track while an undergraduate at Oxford University, two days before his 20th birthday on 7 May, 1920. Out of respect for Kenneth Grahame, Alastair's demise was recorded as an accidental death. Kenneth Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire in 1932.
