Over a period of six nights, I read these tales aloud to my six-year-old son, Luke, and three-year-old daughter, Kajsa. Last night after finishing the book I asked Luke if he enjoyed the stories. "I loved it," said Luke. (Meanwhile, Kajsa got far too squirmy to pay much attention after the first 10 minutes of any story). Luke ate it up though. The first of these three tales was published back in 1948! They concern the adventures of a young boy named Elmer Elevator and a baby dragon that he rescues in the first tale. Cute, light-weight stuff with a few illustrations sprinkled throughout. The end papers of the book are two different maps of the story’s environs. Luke wants to make his own maps now. ( )

This was a favorite of mine when I was little. I can't imagine never knowing the adventures of my father to rescue the dragon!

Reading this one with Q and Lu before bed...We read about 1 and a half of the 3 books in this collection. My Father's Dragon was a fun book with lots of little adventures with animals. They got bored with the second story, so we stopped reading... ( )

I think this is the first actual chapter book I remember reading. It was my absolute favorite. I could read it over and over again. Today it is still one of my favorites. ( )

Befriending an old alley cat, Elmer Elevator (my father) learns about an injured baby dragon that has been captured by the cruel jungle animals on Wild Island. The animals are abusive to the baby dragon, twisting his golden wings, chaining him around the neck and forcing him to fly them across an alligator infested river. The cat and Elmer devise a plan to rescue the baby dragon using chewing gum, pink lollipops, rubber bands, boots, a compass, toothbrush and toothpaste, brush and comb, and seven hair ribbons. At first, these items seem improbable and frivolous, but each plays an important part in conquering the wild animals. So begins an irresistible tale filled with adventure, humor, logic, and nonsense. This book is a GREAT introduction to chapter books and lends itself well to ‘a-chapter-a-day’ read aloud.

A few simple black and white pictures help move the story along to its hair-raising ending.

Also included in this edition are the continuing adventures of Elmer and the Baby dragon in 'Elmer and the Dragon' and 'The Dragons of Blueland'.