Title Raising Dragons Series --- Author Jerdine Nolen Illustrator Elise Primavera Publisher Harcourt Brace & Company - 2002 First Printing 1998 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters Hank, the girl Main Elements Dragons

It just goes to show you how an innocent Sunday-before-suppoer walk can lead to just about anything. Who could have known that it would lead to a pulsing egg, a baby dragon, and the best friend a girl could ever wish for.

Raised with love and care day by day, the dragon grows big, bigger and still bigger until...

Jerdine Nolen has created a raucous adventure about forever love, loyalty, and the joys of the unexpected. And Elise Primavera's whimsical pastels render a world where dream and reality meet with heart and wild imagination. There's every chance that after reading Raising Dragons, you'll want to go searching for a dragon's egg of your very own! You never know.

A little girl living on a farm is not all that interested in raising vegetables or sheep, but then she finds a dragon egg and discovers her calling. She'll raise dragons! And dragons are a lot of work, not only do you have to feed them but you have to teach them to fly, but she finds she's good at it. And as the dragon grows he becomes quite useful around the farm.

The illustrations are nice, and the story interesting. There's some interesting teminology like the use of "critters" and "Tarnation!" which adds to the farm setting. And the little girl and her family are black. But in the end, it's the dragon that steals the show. This isn't a tale of race but of friendship and finding your passion.