Synopsis: Max lives with his Aunt Emma, and she’s a witch. No one at the local school he starts at when he’s ten, believes a word of it. They think he must be making it all up. One friend believes him: Timmy. Timmy has read books about witches, broomsticks and dragons, and is very worried when Max tells him that he is hatching a dragon egg under his bed. When Max gets into trouble, the villagers and then Timmy come to his aid.

Review: This is a great little story by a great writer. Max is an appealing main character for reluctant readers or children who lack the skills to tackle longer books for their age group. Without being named as such, he’s a classic dyslexic child with an unbelievably messy bedroom and at ten years old, he’s only learned part of the alphabet. But it doesn’t occur to Max to worry about this: he is too preoccupied with more important things: dragon eggs and friends. Max is fearless, fun and cool. Max’s friend Timmy is the opposite of Max. He’s studious and easily frightened. He knows dragon eggs explode when they hatch and keeps trying to warn Max, but is never allowed to finish the sentence. Aunt Emma leaves Max in a huff because his bedroom is so messy. The villagers offer to keep an eye on him, and to come if he rings the bell at Witches Towers. But Max rings it whenever he feels bored or lonely so they stop coming. So when the dragon egg finally explodes, and Max is left with a dragon on his hands, it is up to Timmy to overcome his fears and go and help him. He does, and even helps Max tidy his room so that Aunt Emma will come back.

The book has nice bold, clear print and some amusing illustrations. The language is simultaneously simple and delightfully contemporary. I highly recommend this book.

2007-01-21