The Dragon That Ate Summer - Hardcover

Grade 4-6-- Alastair's dull summer is turned around when he discovers a baby dragon in his mother's petunia garden. He spends the following weeks raising ``Spike'' as a pet, while trying to keep him hidden from his family and his grouchy neighbor. At the same time, he charts the creature's growth and other traits, attempting to prove that dragons really do exist. Although the premise is intriguing, neither Alastair nor Spike is an especially compelling character. Their evening walks, with the dragon disguised as a dog, are mildly amusing. Spike's invasion of Alastair's sister's slumber party is fairly predictable. The fact that the boy's uncle just happens to be a scientist who investigates mythological animals stretches credibility, as does the conclusion in which Spike, now an acknowledged scientific breakthrough, is allowed to remain the boy's pet. While this title may satisfy some dragon fans, Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (HBJ, 1991) and especially Weird Henry Berg (Crown, 1980) by Sargent are better choices. --Steven Engelfried, Pleasanton Library, CA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Alastair McKnight has just sabotaged his own summer plans by breaking his collarbone while careening along on a ``dog-powered skateboard train.'' Chafing at his confinement, he's delighted to find a tiny four-pound dragon, eating Mom's petunias. Alastair hides little ``Spike'' in his room, discovers that he's vegetarian, researches dragons in library books (could this benign specimen be Chinese?), and uses a mop to disguise Spike as a dog in order to walk him--his droppings are peculiarly noxious. Eventually, the secret comes out, but researcher Uncle George- -with whom Alastair has been in correspondence--turns up just in time to guarantee that Alastair gets to keep his unusual pet. A simple story, but Seabrooke (the widely praised Judy Scuppernong, 1990, etc.) tells it with humor and imagination, providing plenty of amusing details--especially the antics of Spike, a kittenish creature who bursts into flame only occasionally and, luckily, doesn't grow at all. Appealing fantasy in a briskly drawn realistic setting. (Fiction. 8-11) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.