Georgie Grows a Dragon is a wonderful story about gardening, friendship and growing. Georgie loves growing things but she can’t remember planting the dragon that appears in her garden overnight. She’s determined to take care of it but what do dragons need to help them grow…?
The Story: One night a dragon falls into Georgie’s garden and gets stuck in a large flowerpot. Georgie takes care of the dragon like she does her other plants but the dragon is large and troublesome. However, once Georgie discovers how to make the dragon happy it becomes friendly and helpful. When the dragon misses its family and friends Georgie waves goodbye but then she discovers another unusual plant in her garden…
Georgie Grows a Dragon takes an amusing look at gardening and what plants need. Georgie applies all her gardening knowledge to taking care of the dragon but it doesn’t like sunlight, definitely doesn’t like being watered and other plants make it sneeze! But, despite the chaos that the dragon causes, kindhearted Georgie is determined to do her best for it and proves that communication can help solve the dragon’s problem.
Georgie and the dragon are the only two characters in the book and we love the way that the reader knows how the dragon appeared but Georgie thinks that it has grown. The dragon doesn’t speak at all until an exasperated Georgie finally asks him why he’s being so difficult. The dragon’s answer signifies the turning point in their relationship which grows into friendship.
We love Emma Lazell’s brightly coloured illustrations, many of which are on fabulous double spreads with little text. A lot of the humour comes from the pictures, we love the tub of snapdragon seeds shown behind the large flowerpot on the morning that Georgie meets the dragon.
Georgie really does her best to find the right growing conditions for her dragon but it isn’t easy…
Georgie Grows a Dragon is a great story to stimulate discussion about growing and gardening in an Early Years classroom. It could also lead to children growing their own plants and seeds and talking about what they need to make them grow.
Author / Illustrator: Emma Lazell
Thank you to Pavilion Books for sending a review copy of this amusing story.
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