Dragon Boy (book)

Dragon Boy is a book written by British author Dick King-Smith in 1993. It looks at the life of John, a young orphan in the Middle Ages who is adopted by dragons.

Plot summary

Montague Bunsen-Burner is a dragon who is put on a 'no-humans' diet by his wife Albertina after she becomes disgusted at his flatulence after consuming humans. Out on a flight later that day, Montague discovers a young boy, John, who was recently orphaned when his father, a woodcutter, was crushed when a tree he was cutting fell the wrong way, Montague deciding to take the boy home with him. Although Albertina is initially suspicious at Montague's motives, John proves his worth as a member of the family with his knowledge of various forest herbs that enhance the flavour of several foods.

John proves his value to the family further when Albertina lays her latest clutch of eggs; Montague and Albertina have been married for around fifty years, Albertina laying around ten eggs each year, but none have ever hatched. Deducing that Montague and Albertina are ignorant of the need to incubate eggs- Albertina mentions later that her parents didn't like to talk of such things-, John manages to smuggle an egg away from Albertina's latest clutch and place it in a 'nest' made of reeds, inspired by a lizard nest he saw when he was younger, that will keep it warm until it hatches (Taking only one egg in case he is wrong about how dragon eggs incubate and not wanting to disappoint the Bunsen-Burners if his effort doesn't pay off). While returning from hiding the egg, John is nearly attacked by a wolf- the wolf being chased off by a bear when John tries to climb a tree to escape-, but Montague manages to save him and kill both animals, the bearskin being kept for John to sleep under in winter.

Noting that the wolf is milky, John deduces that she has cubs, setting out to find her family. Although three of the cubs are dead when he finds her den, John takes in the fourth cub- a coal-black male-, naming him 'Bart' after Montague's father (Whose full name was Bartholemew Theopolis Marmaduke) and training him as a pet. After John and Bart have kept an eye on the egg in its makeshift 'nest' for the next six weeks, it finally hatches, revealing a young female dragon who names herself 'Lucky', much to the joy of her parents. From this point onwards, John is regularly described as the Bunsen-Burner's adopted son and Lucky's 'little brother'. Although John attracts some quizzical gazes when an elderly Examiner comes to test Lucky's flying abilities, no definite questions are asked, and Lucky passes her test with flying colours on her first attempt.

While the dragons take a holiday at the beach where Montague and Albertina stayed after their wedding, shortly after Lucky passes her flying lessons, John and Bart are confronted by wolves. However, Lucky senses that her brother is in danger and returns to save him, although the subsequent damage to John's clothes forces them to travel to a nearby village to steal replacement clothes for him. During their time away, the Bunsen-Burners are briefly attacked by a group of ambitious knights, but the dragons easily drive them away without any casualties (Albertina resolutely informing Montague that their relationship with John means that they must never eat human flesh again after everything he has come to mean to them).

As Lucky grows older, the comparative rarity of dragons in the present compared to their old courting days prompt Montague and Albertina to try to search for a potential husband for her in an arranged marriage, but their search fails; Albertina is harshly turned away by the head of a family of Welsh dragons, and while Montague discovers a pleasant family- the Charmouths-, they have nothing but daughters. Fortunately, while visiting the holiday beach, Lucky discovers a boy dragon called Gerald Fire-Drake, who left his home in Scotland after an argument with his father, forming a deep attachment to Lucky that blossoms into romance. During this time, John has a brief encounter with an outlaw who threatens to kill him, but Bart senses his master's peril and hurries to save him, Bart's attack- followed closely by the arrival of Albertina- prompting the outlaw to flee while leaving John his weapons.

After an engagement of a couple of years due to Gerald and Lucky's youth, their wedding takes place near the lake where Lucky hatched, attended by the Fire-Drakes, Albertina's cousins, Montague's brother and his wife, the Examiner who gave Lucky her test, and the Charmouths (Montague reasoning that they are a pleasant family and Gerald's brothers might be interested). The ceremony completed after John gives a speech in his role as best man, Gerald and Lucky fly off for their honeymoon, leaving John to reflect on the joys of his life as a dragon boy.

Trivia

In the latter chapters of the novel, John reveals that his surname is Little, Lucky reflecting that she always thought of him as 'Little John'. The novel notes that 'Little John' will grow into a giant of a man and the strongest man in England, hinting that he is the 'Little John' from the myth of Robin Hood.