The Boy Who Grew Dragons

by Andy Shepherd

I smiled. ‘Our little secret, Grandad.’

  I looked around at the scorched, cabbage-splattered garden and the tent now hanging from a nearby tree, dragon faces peeping out. Ted, Kat and Kai were looking as relieved as I felt. I grinned at them, and gave them the thumbs up.

  Lolli started tugging on my trouser leg and I bent down. She’d found a grass-covered marshmallow and was happily sucking on it.

  She gave me a kiss, which was actually more of a nose slobber, but I didn’t mind, because thanks to her the dragons were still our secret, and Grandad – well, he had his twinkle back.

  ‘Good job, Lollibob Bobalob. Good job,’ I whispered. And she gave me a sticky high five.

  So there you go. We all have dragons. And since you’re still here, that probably means you want one too. You haven’t taken one tiny bit of notice of all the exploding poos, uncontrollable sparks and general wanton destruction, have you?

  Well, you can’t say I haven’t warned you. I can see you’re desperate for a dragon and that whatever I say isn’t going to put you off. I know because I wouldn’t have listened to me either, not when there’s a chance of having a dragon of your own.

  OK then. So, what have we learned?

  First off, by now you should know what to look for. You were paying attention to that, I hope. You did take some notes about the dragon-fruit tree? Make a few sketches?

  Nope? Honestly, you need to keep your eye on the ball if you’re going to keep dragons. All right, one more time then – look out for:

  A tree with:

  Knobbly hairy trunk.

  Long spiky green cactus arms.

  Weird sprouty mop-top.

  Dangly great tendrils.

  Red spiky pineapple fruit.

  Got it? Right. Because that, you dragon-seeking desperados, is what you’re looking for – if you want to grow dragons. Did you note the ‘if’ there? Which should be a very big ‘IF’. No, of course you didn’t. You’re already dreaming of all those flames and the fire-breathing and flying.

  And who can blame you?

  But let me just tell you this – I do know I was wrong about dragons being the coolest thing in the world. They’re not.

  Because Flicker isn’t a thing; he’s not even a pet. He’s my friend.

  Now that Ted, Kat and Kai have their dragons, they’ll get to see it too. So that’s what you can expect once you’ve found your dragon-fruit tree and hatched yourself a dragon.

  But after that, what more can you expect?

  Let’s just say that’s something we were about to find out!

  Acknowledgements

  All I can say is it’s a good job there are two more books to come so I don’t have to do all my thank-yous in one go!

  First off, huge thanks to Sara Ogilvie for her completely magical illustrations. I love every single one and should probably spend more time writing and less time staring at them. And to my agent extraordinaire, Jo Williamson, who never gives up. You are the perfect blend of fun and fiercely determined.

  Thanks also to Tilda Johnson and Georgia Murray – the kind of editors I dreamed of finding. Brilliant, clever and above all kind.

  When Tilda gave me ‘Andy’s Dragon Growing Kit’ at our first meeting, I knew Piccadilly Press was going to be the perfect home for me and the dragons. Thank you to everyone for the excitement you have shown for this book.

  My love and thanks to Mum, Dad, Pete and all my lovely family and friends near and far who have cheered me on. Especially my own brilliant superhero squad – Bon, Tor and Pam.

  And of course Ian. I’d need another book to list all the reasons. But here’s just one – thank you for believing in me so much that I had to believe too.

  And finally Ben and Jonas – my wonderful boys. These are your books. Thank you for always helping me find the magic.

  Andy Shepherd is a children’s writer working on middle-grade fiction and picture books. She lives near Cambridge with her husband, two sons and their border collie. She spends her spare time trying to figure out how to move this beautiful city closer to the sea. The Boy Who Grew Dragons is her first book. You can follow her on Twitter @andyjshepherd or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andyjshepherd/

  Sara Ogilvie is an award-winning artist/illustrator. She was born in Edinburgh in 1971 and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. Sara’s many picture books include The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson, The Worst Princess by Anna Kemp, and Izzy Gizmo by Pip Jones. Her middle-grade fiction includes Phil Earle’s Demolition Dad (and others in the Storey Street series).

  www.saraogilvie.com

  www.nbillustration.co.uk/sara-ogilvie

  DON’T MISS

  THE NEXT BOOK!

  Coming soon

  Thank you for choosing a Piccadilly Press book.

  If you would like to know more about our authors, our books or if you’d just like to know what we’re up to, you can find us online.

  www.piccadillypress.co.uk

  You can also find us on:

  We hope to see you soon!

  First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

  PICCADILLY PRESS

  80–81 Wimpole St, London W1G 9RE

  www.piccadillypress.co.uk

  Text copyright © Andy Shepherd, 2018

  Illustrations copyright © Sara Ogilvie, 2018

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  The right of Andy Shepherd and Sara Ogilvie to be identified as author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-1-84812-650-3

  Piccadilly Press is an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre Ltd,

  a Bonnier Publishing company

  www.bonnierpublishing.com