The Dragons of Blueland

I was browsing at a bookstore and was randomly drawn by the artwork on the cover of the first book in this series "My Fathers Dragon". I know, the old saying "never judge a book by it's cover" is a good edict to hold to, so I read both the back and inside cover to find that it was first published the late 1940's. On a whim I decided to buy it for my daughter who in turn loved it so much that she woke up early the next morning to read before school, which was rare and exciting all at once. Even for an adult, it seems like such a great idea to imagine packing a backpack with traveling "essentials" such as pink bubble gum and rubber bands. The main character Elmer falls into many traps that he creatively works through including tricking a lion by brushing his hair, befriending a dragon, and so on. As a parent what I love best is that all of these books evolve around mishaps that end with good clean humor not unecessary modern-day-drama or blood-guts-and-gore! The next obvious step was to purchase the remaining two books (this being the last in the series)and my daughter has loved them so much that she took them all to school to share in class and they still haven't come back. Unlike most series books that seem to get boring as they go along, this trio has held our attention all the way through! A 'must have' for any 7 or 8 (or 32+) year old readers out there.

These books are great for kids who are reading early chapter books -- they're not terribly long, but they're quite creative. My son loves them!

I love children's books that open with a map, and the "Dragons of Blueland" (the third in Gannett's series about the dragon) promises adventures in such exciting locales as "Seaweed Bay," "The Awful Desert," "Popsicornia," and the "Spiky Mountain Range."The book delivers, as Elmo Elevator, a "brave boy of nine," helps his dragon friend Boris rescue his family. The story is comforting yet cleverly exciting and humorous. The soft black and white illustrations (done by the author's stepmother, who also did the illustrations for the first edition of Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat") are a gentle compliment to the text. First published in 1951, this is good fun!

I bought this book without ever having heard of it or the author; but my son was having a dragon birthday theme, so I took a chance. What wonderful luck. It is good for children age 4 to 40! We have read it numerous times and the chapters provide comfortable break points as well. This book stirs the imagination and keeps the reader and listener interested!

I like this book because it's very adventurous. They find a lot of really cool things. I like all the things they make-believe and the way everything is drawn. All the things they make in the book are really creative.Rachel Davis, age 7