John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien

A captivating picture book biography of a boy who imagined a world full of dragons and grew up to be beloved author J. R. R. Tolkien.

John Ronald loved dragons. He liked to imagine dragons when he was alone, and with his friends, and especially when life got hard or sad. After his mother died and he had to live with a cold-hearted aunt, he looked for dragons. He searched for them at his boarding school. And when he fought in a Great War, he felt as if terrible, destructive dragons were everywhere. But he never actually found one, until one day, when he was a grown man but still very much a boy at heart, when he decided to create one of his own. John Ronald's Dragons, a picture book biography by Caroline McAlister and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, introduces the beloved creator of Middle Earth and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to a new generation of children who see magic in the world around them.

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Published: 03/21/2017
Pages: 48
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 11.10h x 9.30w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781626720923
Age: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 189917 / John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J.R.R. Tolkien


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2016
Booklist 12/15/2016 pg. 40
School Library Journal 02/01/2017 pg. 72
Publishers Weekly 02/13/2017
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2017 pg. 109

About the Author

Caroline McAlister teaches English at Guildford College and every year takes students to Oxford, England, to study fantasy in the setting where Tolkien lived and wrote. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Eliza Wheeler wrote and illustrated New York Times bestseller Miss Maple's Seeds and enjoys eating Hobbit food and reading Tolkien aloud with her friends. She divides her time between the coast of California and the riverbanks of Wisconsin.