There's No Such Thing as a Dragon

When Billy Bixbee finds a tiny dragon in his bedroom, his mum tells him, "There's no such thing as a dragon!" This only makes the dragon get bigger. He grows, and grows, and grows, until he's bigger than Billy's house.

Charming text and playful illustrations by well-known author-illustrator Jack Kent is a terrific story that demonstrates how a little attention can make a big difference, no matter what size the problem.

As mentioned, Billy awakes one morning to find a dragon, the size of a kitten, on his bed. He pats the dragon on its head and its tail begins to wag. When Billy goes downstairs to tell his mum about the dragon, she yells, "There's no such thing as a dragon."

Billy returns to his room and ignores the dragon since there's no such thing. As Billy continues with his day, the dragon works very hard to make his presence known. It tries on Billy's pajamas, eats his breakfast, takes a nap and chases the bread truck. With great determination, Billy and his mum continue to ignore the dragon even though it has now grown from the size of a kitten to the size of the house. It's Billy who realizes that the dragon simply wants to be noticed and pats the dragon on the head.

This dragon reacts to this and starts to become smaller and once again the size of a kitten. With the dragon laying in mother's lap, she exclaims, "I don't mind dragons this size. Why did it have to grow so big?" To which Billy replies, "I'm not sure, but I think it just wanted to be noticed."

have read this book over and over and over, minny minny minny times since 1978 when my daughter was a baby. My boys were 7 and 9, but they liked it too. The pictures, the story - they never get old. And now my grandchildren love this book too. Dragons and kids. All they need is a little love. And maybe a good story like this one before bed. Many thanks to the late Jack Kent. This story will live on - and on and on and on. TEN stars. - Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

Remember back in the day when children's books weren't so literal? (Now we are stuck with issue books: "Daddy has Prostate Cancer!" "The I Hate Broccoli Book!" "Divorce Sure Can Hurt!"). This is one of those books that has some moral instruction to pass along, but dresses it in imaginative clothes. I'm fairly certain that small children won't be thinking about denial or repression when they read it, but something about ignoring the obvious might stick and be available to them later in life. Meanwhile, thank god, it's an amusing book on its own terms.

I was first introduced to this book about 15 years ago--book + reading on record (anybody remember those? X=>) Anyway, a few years later, my mom came across it while looking for good children's books...she has been addicted ever since!
"There's No Such Thing As a Dragon" is the children's version of what happens when we ignore a problem's existence--you extrapolate the morals.
Wonderfully illustrated this is a classic to have in any collection! Buy one now!--my mom had to hunt and wait for years prior to this reprinting!

Just today I shared this book with another adult. Our children are grown so I have not read it to them in years but it keeps coming up in conversations with grownups! The principle is true......if one ignores something they should deal with, it can morph into an "all consuming big deal" when it really isn't or should not be......dealing with it which usually involves communication with one or many people and once that is done, awkward or painful as it might be, the problem becomes more manageable or disappears. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

We have rented this book from the library so many times it's silly! My husband grew up with this book being read to him, and when he saw I rented it from the library he was over the moon. This is one story he has no problem reading over and over again to his son. :)

As a family therapist, I enjoy recommending this bedtime story for both parents and children wanting to understand why family members, who feel unnoticed or unappreciated, can become so "large" in their behavior. Light, amusing and endearing. Thank you Jack Kent. I regret "Dragon" being out of print.

This is a wonderful story about a boy called Billy Bixbee who wakes up one morning to find a little dragon on his bed. However, Billy's mum is a bit skeptical and doesn't believe in dragons...even though the dragon grows and grows so that you couldn't really miss him even if you tried. Sometimes all we want is to be noticed....There are some super jokes in the story and it was one of our kids favourites and now its one of our grandson's favourites.