Dragons: Father and Son

This book might be titled "Father and Son" but it's actually much more than that - its a great little story about making your own decisions, weighing up the options you have and making the right choice for you. The images are simple but very effective - 4 stars

I read this with my four and six year old sons and they enjoyed the story so in that sense the book is a success.
The illustrations were good and the story nice and easy to follow at bed-time and a nice length for that age of children.
I was a little disappointed with the ending, which I thought was a bit abrupt after the build up to it and thought the Father dragon could have done something else.
However, we all enjoyed it so thank you very much.
I'd certainly read, and look out for, another story from this author. If it involves dragons again, all the better.

This book is delightful. A strict, crusty dad dragon tells his son, Drake, that it's time to grow up and it is tradition that he must go out and burn down some houses to actually become a real one.

"Listen, son, you're a big boy now. It's time you behaved like a real dragon. Tomorrow, you will go to the village on the other side of the mountains, where you will burn down a few houses."
"But why?" asked Drake.

Poor Drake is caught off guard with the request, after all the only time he had hardly breathed fire was to grill himself a small slug or caterpillar as a snack. Oh my. He tosses and turns all night dreading the upcoming day and the mission his dad is sending him on. He doesn't want to do that... no way!

Being obedient to his dad Drake flies off into the village to find his targets to burn. He comes upon the perfect wooden victim and is ready to incinerate it when a little boy appears and is thrilled to meet a real, honest to goodness dragon. Drake confesses to the little boy that if he doesn't follow through with the plan he will be told off by his dad. The little boy has a great idea and takes Drake by the arm and leads him to the perfect solution to his problem... his schoolhouse. You see the boy hasn't completed his homework so Drake could actually do him a favour by burning down that old place. The students inside the classroom give Drake a change of heart just before he strikes. The kids soften and melt his heart by creating a wonderful picture of a dragon and presenting it to him as a gift. Drake cannot believe how generous and kind they are to him. He continues on his dreadful assignment to do what his dad requests him to do but each time he receives kindness and acceptance from the human contacts.


He returns back to his cave to face his domineering dad and Drake cleverly outsmarts him by spreading the warmth and kindness he receives from the humans and pours it right into the stone-cold heart of his autocratic father. Mmmmm? Wonder how the little guy manages that feat? He manages it superbly and his grouchy dad's heart gets to experience the fruit of kindness from the humans also.

The illustrations are truly spectacular! Activity abounds and the expressions on all are a sight to behold. "Dragons: Father and Son " spreads a peaceful, positive message that is successfully achieved in this magical tale about dragons. I truly love the story and especially the illustrations. I highly, highly recommend this book.

'Dragons: Father and Son' by Alexandre Lacroix with illustrations by Ronan Badel is a story about becoming who you are instead of who others might want you to be.

Drake is a young dragon who lives with his slightly grouchy looking father. Now that Drake is older, his father wants him to go out and terrorize villages by burning them down. Drake has misgivings about doing this. Along the way, he meets characters who convince him that he shouldn't torch their buildings. Could Drake's father be wrong?

It's a very cute story with great illustrations to accompany. I loved the grumpiness of the dad. I loved Drake's pose as he tilts his head back before he is about to torch a building. The story has a gently message and doesn't serve to make any character look stupid, which I appreciated.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I enjoyed "Dragons: Father and Son." It has a nice story and interesting illustrations. It follows the dragon son as he tries to accomplish the tradition his father has set before him. He doesn't understand the tradition and is fearful that his father will not be proud of him. Along the way, he meets new people, learns new things and realizes things do not always have to be the same. We can change tradition. We can see things from a different view point. And guess, what? His father was proud of him after all.

Drake the dragon is happy young dragon who does not want to hurt people. He has a dilemma when his father orders him to go to the village and burn down a house. Drake heads off, but his adventures do not include burning down anything. He also learns how to charm his father into letting him be.

This is a great little story about being yourself and standing up for what you believe in. It also deals with the relationships between fathers and sons. I loved the illustrations. They were not cutesy dragons but a little scary and not attractive at all. The emotions on the faces of the characters were wonderful. Drake also learned to judge for himself and not just believe that people were "ferocious creatures" as his father believed.

You know dragons. They're there to look splendid and fierce, and to burn down human villages in rampages, with or without treasure in mind. But they need to be trained in that. And our father dragon has just tasked his son dragon with that very errand - to go and torch a human house. The lad is reluctant to cook anything more severe than lunch - what could possibly happen?

Well, the result from this book is a lesson in not doing what your forefathers have done if it means doing good for the common all. It's a lesson in not following your nature if that nature is routinely bad. It's also a flippant and quite joyful look at the life of a dragon family, complete with undefined pet bird thing for the dragon child, and patio furniture for the adult dragon. The adult purchaser or sharer of this will appreciate the breezy whimsy (if not the abrupt ending), and the target junior audience will love the tale that goes counter to the typical dragon ferocity, and the agency with which the dragon son chooses his own path.

It's a very suitable picture book, with colourfully inked illustrations covering more than a page each, and between one and six easy paragraphs per spread. It doesn't force any moral or pacifism lesson, it just is - and what it is is spot on. It's actually written by a French philosopher and high-brow author, who has turned to love in a sequel concerning these, or similar, dragons - either way they are really quite likeable.

Dragons is a very enjoyable story about Drake, the young dragon, learning how to be a real dragon by breathing fire. His father sets him a task but as Drake sets out on his journey, he feels unable to complete the task (breathing fire and setting light to things) based on the people he meets. It's a nice heartfelt story about finding the good in people and Drake learning along the way, before returning home and sharing his learnings with his father. A nice story which shows the sweet bond between father and son. The graphics are beautiful, and as is always very important with me, the text is brilliantly clear and easy to read.

What do you do if you are a dragon? Do you terrorize the people, because your dad says to do so? Do you burn down the school, because a kid says that would be a good idea? Do you burn down the shack by the river, because it is old?

Nope, because you find that the people don't want to be terrorized, the school is good for teaching, and the man who goes to the shack to fish, shares his cooked fish with you.

Cute story about making choices that bring harm to none, and help people.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a highly enjoyable story about Drake, the young dragon. His father tells him that he must go to the village and set fire to a house. As Drake gets to know the villagers, he discovers that they are friendly and kind, and he can't imagine burning a single thing down. When he returns home to his father, will he be able to win him over to his point of view?

The illustrations were well done and quite funny at times. They enhance the story and will draw the attention of the Pre-K and early reading children.

I liked that the drawings weren’t the normal ‘cutesy’, soft, bright purple or green colors you often see in Dragon stories. These images were tougher and reflected the personality of the story being told. The images practically tell the story without the words making it a great book to open discussions with kids.

You can see the anger on the Dad Dragon’s face when he’s interacting with his son, the fear on the son’s when he can’t sleep because he has to go do something he doesn’t want to the next day, the inquisitiveness on the children’s faces from the classroom and the fear on the teacher’s as she’s trying to stop her classroom from getting incinerated.

When you get done smiling at the artistic pursuits across the pages take a moment to enjoy the words that bring even more meaning to the images. A story about family, finding yourself outside expectations, redefining traditions and discovering the best when you were expecting the worst.

It’s a story about more than fathers and sons. It’s a story about finding your own identity, making your own decisions and enjoying the best the world has to offer.

While Dragons: Father and Son felt a little wordy the first time I read it, the second read through felt just right, I think all of the text was necessary to the story. And there was only one part of the book that I really questioned (and caused me to rate this down one star), and that was when the Son stretched the truth when he returned to his Father.

When Father Dragon asks his son to go out and burn some of the village, which is a tradition in growing up, his son sets out to do just that. But the first house has a little boy looking out the window. It just doesn't seem right to destroy the house for no good reason, especially when the little boy races out of the house, delighted to see a real live dragon! But the boy has an idea, they can go burn down the schoolhouse, especially since he hasn't finished his homework. As the story progresses the son is forced to evaluate tradition and whether he wants to return and disappoint his Father.

The illustrations add to the story with their colorful depiction of all the characters. Children should really enjoy them.

The story itself can be read just for fun, but there is an obvious message that can be discussed. This is a good classroom read or individual book to share.

Remarkably Expressive Characters

I particularly enjoyed this book. The story is perfectly fine, but I was captivated by the remarkably engaging drawings.

Lots of children's books have charming or "cute" or attractive and pleasant characters. But often they are static and posed for maximum cuteness effect. Here, by distinction, each of the drawings in this book is loaded with character and energy. Attention has been paid to body language, facial expressions, and all of the little bits of detail that breathe life into a drawing.

As an example, there is one scene toward the middle of the story in which Little Dragon is mobbed by a group of school children who are wild about dragons and excited to meet a real dragon. More than a dozen little kids crowd around Little Dragon. Each one is distinct, and for each one you can see a different personality, attitude, and level of excitement. A little reader could look closely at this illustration and make up or imagine a slew of different back stories about the events depicted.

I don't know how an artists achieves this level of communication with just a few strokes of the pen and some color washes, but there it is. (I don't know if this holds true or not, but I've realized that several of the "words and pictures" books that I've admired recently have been, like this one, English language reissues of French originals. Maybe there's a "French style" that strives to capture what I've been describing?)

In any event, this was a very pleasant find and a most amusing and entertaining book.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

AAAHHHHHHhhhhhh. Drake is a dragon. As tradition he must go to the village to burn down a house. He is a dragon after all. But he meets a boy, then lots of boys and girls, and finally a fisherman that changes his mind. He goes back home and explains why he failed in his mission. He learned, and passed on the lesson that you don’t have to do something just because that is the way it has always been done. Plus the illustrations are sure to put a smile on the reader’s face.

Dragons; Father and Son is a picturebook written by Alexander Lacroix, and illustrated by Ronan Badel. Poor little Drake! He doesn’t WANT to be a fire-breathing beast—but his traditional dad insists that he do what dragons have always done: destroy all the houses in town. With no choice but to obey, he reluctantly sets out to the village. Then, he meets a boy, a teacher, and a kind fisherman who show him there’s more than one way to be a good dragon. Filled with humor and compassion, this story will enchant children and encourage them to love themselves for who they are.

Dragons; Father and Son is a wonderful little story. I liked that the dragons are not the cute, cuddly dragons that so often appear in picturebooks. I also like that Drake is open to learning, and that he does not want to hurt anyone, but he does not want to anger his father. I think there are way too many young people with parents like the father in this story at home. Adults that hate or fear another group just because their family always has. I love that Drake got to know the people, and discovered that they are not so different, and that they just want to live their lives. Aside from the that part of the story, which could be seen as political, it is also a story about being true to yourself. Little Drake does not want to hurt anyone, and makes friends with the people. I like that he took that knowledge home, and using smarts and words was able to change his father's mind.

Great story about a father teaching his son to be a dragon by burning down houses and the son who learns that you need not hurt others and you can be friendly and charming and likeable. It was fun with good expressive illustration

Some of it was jumbled up but we managed to read it. My grandson enjoyed it, he is 7, He might have been able to read some of it by himself, but some of it was jumbled. Thanks for letting us read and review this delightful book.

Dragons: Father and Son tells the story of a father attempting to teach his son the dragon tradition of burning down houses. Drake is not exactly proficient at fire breathing, having used his abilities for cooking snacks but nothing ever as big as burning down a house!

Drake finds that he's not quite a chip off the old block when he flies to a nearby village the next day, ready to make his father proud. Humans don't seem to be as ferocious as his father has taught him. Can Drake find a way to make his father proud and still stay true to himself?

I loved the expressions captured on particularly the father's face in Ronan Badel's illustrations. The father's use of glasses near the end was a chuckle moment for me. The illustrations complemented the story well and I imagine children will enjoy the father's cranky expressions at the beginning of the book and the son getting ready to burn down parts of the village in earnest to please his father. I really liked the drawings of the bats.

My favourite picture would have to be when Drake tries to go to sleep the night before he sets out for the village. The look on Drake's face as he contemplates the next day's activities is priceless and there was a special cute factor with him holding onto his bird's leg while the bird sleeps peacefully.

Also, dragons!!! 🐉 😃

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.