Five of the Best Friendly Dragons

Published on: 17 November 2022

Author of The Ultimate Guide to Growing Dragons, Andy Shepherd, shares five of her favourite friendly dragons.

I’ve always loved dragons, ever since I watched Pete’s Dragon as a child and sang ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ to my toys. My first encounters with dragons were definitely as friendly protectors not vicious beasts. I seem to remember reading that when the first dinosaur bones were discovered some people thought they were dragons. And for me, there’s always been this feeling that they could be out there, just out of sight, soaring above the clouds. When I started growing my own dragon story I knew two things for sure. I wanted to have Tomas find his dragon right on his doorstep, without disappearing into a fantasy realm, and I wanted my dragons to be friendly not fierce. I’ve had so much fun growing all the different dragons in the books, from Flicker, Tomas’ colour-changing weather dragon to ice dragons, tiny bee dragons with glittering wings and rainbow-winged hypnotizing dragons. I love them all.

Here are a few more of my favourite friendly dragons from stories I love:

Puff from Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton

This book started all this for me. There’s a lovely picture book of the story by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton and beautifully illustrated by Eric Puybaret. And at the end there’s a CD to sing along to.

Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell 

I love Toothless in the films but I love him even more in the books. He’s one of the funniest and most infuriating and lovable characters around. (And David Tennant does an absolutely brilliant reading of him in the audiobooks!)

Timir from Luma and the Pet Dragon by Leah Mohammed

Luma really wants a puppy, but then she finds a tiny dragon in her Nani’s garden who happens to disguise himself as a puppy. Now she has a puppy who is also a dragon and is a bit of handful to boot. A really funny, charming story that will appeal to 6+ readers.

Gweeb from The Secret Dragon by Ed Clarke

This is a heart-warming story about a little girl called Mari who finds a dragon on the beach while fossil hunting. Mari must find a way to keep Gweeb secret and safe in this enchanting and exciting adventure.

Sylvia from Sylvia and Bird by Catherine Rayner

Sylvia is a beautiful ‘shimmer-shiny’ dragon. But she is lonely, and has never found any other dragons. With the help of her friend Bird, she sets out to find where she belongs.

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Dragons written by Andy Shepherd and illustrated by Sara Ogilvie is out now.