<I>”People leave parts of themselves behind in the things and people they love.”</i>

This was a sweet middle grade adventure about finding yourself and learning to accept the help and support from those around you.

After his father passes away suddenly, Kon loses his ability to speak. He feels trapped and lost and can’t find the words to express himself anymore. One day when he is exploring the coast, he bumps into Maya, who’s chatter and acceptance begins to fill the space inside him, wanting to once more share his passions. So, after months of silence, he invites her to the place that reminds him of his father- his dads bookshop. When there, he opens and old book of fairytales and suddenly they find themselves within the story, in a medieval town that’s being terrorised by a dragon, and only they have the ability to save the town, which they must do before they get sent back to their world.

I found this quite an easy adventurous story, but it seemed to lack character depth. The characters all seemed very flat, and the story felt very convenient without needing much character input. It would have been nice to see Maya open up a bit more, and Kon deal with his grief rather then just shout in rage and then be okay?
I struggled slightly to place the age range for this story too, as the themes seemed to be aimed at 9+, but the lack of detail and depth in the story made it feel like a younger read 7+

But despite the hiccups, it was still and easy adventure I’m sure many will enjoy.

A lovely story using folklore and myth to reconnect a grieving boy back to the world. I loved seeing the telling of a new-to-me folk story with Polish influences, and I enjoyed the fact that the other main character, Maya, also comes from another culture and could share a third beautiful perspective. The adventure through the storybook was exciting, and I enjoyed the story archetypes, but what I found most touching was the way they were used to build up Konrad's confidence again after his dad's death. A story with adventure and heart!

This was a fun middle grade that felt really reminiscent of the books I read as a child, just fun and magic and like a fairytale.

An absolutely wonderful story about friendship, grief, love, acceptance and magic.

After Konrad’s dad dies he doesn’t speak until he meets Maya, a girl who really understands him. She wants to be heard and he just wants to listen.
Konrad’s mum is planning on closing his dads bookshop “A Likely Story” … before the shop closes Konrad takes Maya for one last visit, but they soon get lost in the pages of Konrad's favourite book of folk tales. Where they are aided and abetted by Teresa, the king's scribe.

Some great research has gone into this, the contemporary section has a fair bit to say about dinosaurs. There are fossils and a (fake, I think?) professor, as well as discussions about how we "recreate" dinosaurs from incomplete fossil records.

This is a medieval magical mystery, a time-travelling story children and adults will appreciate and admire. I would say since it’s a middle grade a would have liked a little illustration here and there.

The Dragon in the Bookshop is a good, immersive and fun book to read and well worth a look

After a slow start I really got into this story, managed to read it in two sitting, this story will be loved by children of any age.

Thanks for the chance to review net galley

Quick and easy - loved the setting, great characters - packed full of adventure! Will definitely be recommending this to those who want something magical to read!

A brilliant story, a tale of friendship and grief that made me travel in time and space. Great storytelling and plot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

After his dad's death, Konrad stops speaking. Not a word at home or school as the year rolls by. But that begins to change when he meets Maya on the beach he loved to explore with Dad. She doesn't mind his silence. It gives her a chance to be heard, because at home no one seems to notice her. When the pair go on a last visit to Konrad's family bookshop before it's sold, they soon get lost in the pages of Konrad's favourite book of folk tales. Whisked back in time to quest with a dragon, they must find themselves and their voices, as well as a happy end to the story in the book and in real life.

This was an enchanting and adventurous read dealing with themes of friendship, family, grief, loss and courage.

Using traditional storytelling as a basis for the plot Jozefkowicz opens up a world of magic and mystery when Konrad and Maya get trapped inside the pages of a book and have to work together and overcome their fears to deal with a pesky dragon situation.

With colourful descriptions and exciting twists and turns this was a magical story that I feel many will enjoy.

The Dragon in the Bookshop is a wonderfully imaginative middle grade story , where a boy's adventures in an alternative universe help him come to terms with his dad's death. There are strong themes of acceptance, friendship and perseverance and a kick ass dragon , which is never a bad thing!The story helps explain that anger is not always a bad thing and is instead a natural part of the grieving process.

Since Konrad's father's death, Kon didn't talk - not to anyone. His mother was distraught, not knowing how to help him, as he was continually angry, cut off from those who cared for him. But the day he met Maya on the beach, his life slowly changed. Maya was a friend who didn't mind that Kon didn't talk - she chattered on anyway. And when Kon was able to speak to her and told her his name, they became great friends. The bookshop - A Likely Story - that Kon's dad had owned and run, was now being run by his mother, and she was struggling. Taking Maya to the bookshop to show her around before it was sold, was something he needed to do.

When Kon discovered the old book of folk tales that his Dad used to read to him, he was showing Maya, when they were whisked away to long ago days in Krakow, where a dragon was terrorising the village people. What could Kon and Maya do to help? And why had they been transported to ancient times?

The Dragon in the Bookshop is another captivating middle grade read by Ewa Jozefkowicz which I thoroughly enjoyed. I've read two others by this author and both were 5 stars - this one is no different. The story of two children who learned wonderful life lessons, while having fabulous adventures plus it's set in and around a bookshop - perfection! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I love the tale of the Wawel Dragon, and this retelling is a really sweet, enjoyable read. It deals with the loss of a parent, trying to cope and adjust in the aftermath, and the journey of making new friends and opening yourself to trusting others. I loved the characters, and the twist on Polish folklore. It's a heartwarming tale that I think children will really enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful little adventure this was! I cherish any opportunity to enjoy Polish folklore. A treasure for sure, and one the kiddos will adore!

This is an enchanting time travel tale of Maya and Konrad. The story delighted both the children and myself. It is a story of grief and loss but also hope, of helping others to be reunited with loved ones. It truly is a delightfully heartwarming tale.

This book was such a sweet & lovely little story. It was a well written, compelling tale that dealt with loss, friendship, family, & plenty of adventure, with of course a dragon as a cherry on the top. I loved how each element was woven beautifully into each other to really draw you into the story. I love that it was based off of polish folklore and mythology with plenty of magic woven throughout it. I loved the story and I loved the characters. My 10 year old son and I found this story very engaging & I can definitely see him reading it again.

I've really enjoyed Ewa Jozefkowicz's contemporary Middle Grade books so when it was announced that her next was going to be a fantasy I was, naturally, rather excited. It's a retelling of the Wawel Dragon, a Polish myth, and two modern children are pulled into a storybook and have to find a way to make the story happen - but in a better way.

The fantasy section of the book is steeped in Polish mythology. There is the "main" myth of the hungry dragon, but there are also lots of other references to other stories and traditions that help build the world of Medieval Kraków. The weight of history and legends, told through offhand references, really does make a world feel real to me, because it means it exists beyond the narrow confines of a book.

A lot of research has clearly gone into the process of manuscript creation. The children find themselves roped into preserving stories by creating new books to replace damaged ones. The process is described so well, full of the little quirks (like pages vs strips for how they handled the paper) that help distinguish the scribe's location.

The contemporary section has a fair bit to say about dinosaurs. There are fossils and a (fake, I think?) professor, as well as discussions about how we "recreate" dinosaurs from incomplete fossil records. Of course, though, dinosaurs and dragons aren't too dissimilar...

The one thing I will say is that it does take a while (relative to book size) for the book to go from contemporary to fantasy - I did check I'd opened the right file at one point! There's a lot of contemporary set up to ensure you know what's going on in Konrad's personal life, the challenges he's facing. It's not until that's all been laid and Maya's been introduced that they get sucked into the book.

An intriguing read for tweenaged audiences and up, that bears quite a lot of old-fashioned qualities and bears them as virtues, not something left on the page by accident. Kon(rad) has not spoken in months, ever since his bookseller father collapsed and died in the family-owned shop in their coastal town. Taken to exploring the marshy, rocky, seashore area the following spring, he stumbles upon Maya, a girl whose parents work with endangered species, and who knows more than Kon about the wildlife around. She quickly gets him back to a talking state, and gives his life a much happier focus than the bullies at school and his mother's plans to sell the store – but a strange mixture of elements comes into play when he takes Maya to see the shop's contents before it's closed down.

And that's where the problems lie. The jump from emotive realism to full-on fantasy is so unexpected it really jars. You can see what it's trying to do – the bookseller father always said there is a right character and book for every reader, therefore the inverse says there is a right story for each of us to play out – but boy it is a shock to see what the book switches to be. All of which means the veracity is abandoned for broad folklore, and even when the author tries her damnedest to push the two together, with characters doubling up as in panto, the two wildly different approaches don't ever really gel together.

Which is a shame – the ease and readability of the first chunk made this a most welcome novel, Kon is a good character to have a first person narration from, and his hobbies and his silence would have carried me through. (I did fail to get a clear picture of the coast – one minute it's marshy stuff, the next it's this weird step arrangement of rocks I couldn't compute either.) It's a shame, in a way, too, that I have to mention the fantasy/folklore side of things, as it comes after we should have packed up revealing the plot in our reviews, but it's a stupid critique of this that ignores its arrival. Finally, I know the phrase 'intriguing failure' does have some positivity in it, but I don't think my thoughts about this are positive enough to exceed three stars for it.

this was a fun, quick read for me. I liked the characters and settings. It took quite a while to get going, so as a result, i felt a little like the 'main' story where they are sucked into a book world actually felt kind of rushed or at least, not as long as it should have been. despite this, i still really enjoyed it. It was fun, exciting and had a really nice message attached to it!
so i recommend this, probably more suitable for younger readers, maybe 8 yr olds. but the long opening may catch them out.

I whizzed through this book it is such a lovely little story. well written with a compelling story that is infused with polish folklore and legend and has magic woven through it. I loved the story and I loved the characters. I think children will adore this engaging story.