'Raising Dragons' is a fairy tale set on a rural American farm. A brave little girl finds a mysterious huge egg near a cave and even though her father sternly warns her to stay away, she cannot resist and ultimately brings home the baby dragon who came out of that egg. Both parents seem to be very unhappy with her decision to bring the beast home, but they soon realize what a huge help Hank has become. The author left the story open for another edition, hopefully, to continue spreading the message that we all have a purpose, even if it is not obvious in the beginning. ( )

I enjoyed the novel Raising Dragons because of its exciting plot and beautiful, colorful artwork. Readers are easily captivated by this story as it develops when the main character, a little girl who lives on a farm with her family, finds a dragon egg that hatches her new best friend. As the friendship develops between her and new pet dragon, the author creatively incorporates the dragon into the family's farm life, making it an exciting read whose plot keeps the audience engaged. For example, after the girls begins taking care of the dragon, the family finds the work on the farm, such as plowing the fields and planting corn, mysteriously finished, but then find out their new pet dragon, Hank, has began to help out. Also, the full-page illustrations bring this story to life and are exciting to look at with their bright colors and hand-painted feel. The detailed colorful views of the farm and imaginative illustration of the little girl on her dragon set this book's illustrations apart from the rest. This story gives its readers the idea of how the most unlikely friendships can turn out to be the best ones which enrich our lives. ( )

This book is not quite what I expected, but I think it was a really good book. It was very magical, and the pictures were really unique and cute. ( )

Once again, Jerdine Nolen writes a book that I really do enjoy. The main theme of this book is everyone has a purpose, no matter how strange it might be to you. Nolen again brings coloquial language to the table to help paint the portrait of a rural farm environment. These include instances such as "Ma and Pa", "critter", and "plumb flabbergasted!" These help paint an accurate setting for our characters and makes sure they fit into the environment at hand. The illustrations match the wonderous fantasy story, and even darker settings; such as the cave or night time flying are not scary or intimidating. They are just magical, hopeful, and inspiring; like the book itself. ( )

An unnamed, African American farm girl in the American South discovers a dragon egg on a Sunday evening. She names the dragon Hank and raises him until he is grown, having many adventures along the way. After taking Hank to be with the other dragons, she is gifted more dragon eggs to take care of.