8.2 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publication date 1948 Genre Children's literature | 4.1/5 Goodreads Publisher Random House Originally published 1948 Illustrator Ruth Chrisman Gannett Followed by Elmer and the Dragon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Series My Father's Dragon trilogy Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Awards John Newbery Medal, Book Sense Book of the Year Rediscovery Award Similar John Newbery Medal winners, Children's literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My Father's Dragon is a children's novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby Dragon. Both a Newbery Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book, it is the first book of a trilogy whose other titles are Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland. All three were published in a 50-year anniversary edition as Three Tales of My Father's Dragon. It was made into an anime film titled, Elmer's Adventures: My Father's Dragon.
Contents
The narrative mode is unusual, in that the narrator refers to the protagonist only as "my father", giving the impression that this is a true story that happened long ago. The other two books in the trilogy are narrated in the third person.
The illustrations within the book are black and white done with a grease crayon on a grained paper, done by Ruth Chrisman Gannett, who also illustrated other children's books such as My Mother Is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Paco Goes to the Fair, Miss Hickory, Hipo the Hippo, and adult books such as Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck and Cream Hill by Lewis Stiles Gannett, the author's father and husband of the book's illustrator.
Awards, nominations, and recognition
My Father's Dragon was one runner-up for the 1949 Newbery Medal, by which the American Library Association annually recognizes the year's best American children's book. It was also nominated for the Ambassador Book Award in 1948.
Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named it one of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012 it was ranked number 49 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 1997, the book was made into a Japanese anime film titled, Elmer's Adventures: My Father's Dragon. It starred Yu-ki as Elmer Elevator and Megumi Hayashibara as Boris the dragon.
In 2011, the book was adapted into an American children's stage musical by Travis Tagart.
Other formats
A public domain online edition of My Father's Dragon, a 1949 Newbery Honor Book, is available at A Celebration of Women Writers.
My Father's Dragon public domain audiobook at LibriVox