Review by Booklist Review
Ellie, a toddler, finds a baby dragon at the grocery store. Enchanted when he crawls onto her hand, she names him Scratch and carries him home. Grown-ups can't see him, but children can. When she starts preschool, Scratch goes, too, but she forgets to take him to kindergarten. At her eighth birthday party, the growing dragon eats the candles off the cake. On her tenth, the big fellow plays with Ellie and her friends. But after she turns 13, her mind shifts to other things. Scratch seems pale, almost transparent to her. He quietly leaves one night, but soon a little boy named Sam finds the big, gentle dragon and takes him home. Graham, an Australian picture-book creator, spins a charming tale built on the premise that kids' "imaginary" companions have lives of their own, befriending a succession of children. The well-worded story comes to life in the artwork, with its skillful character drawing and warm, delicate watercolor washes. The silent presence of the dragon enlivens every scene in this endearing picture book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Graham's (The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story) tender portrait of childhood, when young Ellie finds a rainbow-colored dragon hatchling in the supermarket's egg case, she names the tiny critter Scratch and sets him up cozily in her dollhouse at home. Though Ellie's mother and other adults can't see Scratch, he makes quite an impression on young neighbors and classmates--in one memorable scene, Scratch draws interest from every child on a street. As time passes, the two grow more independent: Scratch still tags along on Ellie's weekend outings with her father, but Ellie heads to school alone, and Scratch learns how to fly solo. When her 10th birthday comes along, "things were changing for Ellie and Scratch"--and soon, Scratch is a faint, translucent image in 13-year-old Ellie's busy life. Graham's elegant watercolor-and-ink illustrations capture snapshots of a child maturing in scenes of curly-headed, pale-skinned Ellie dancing with her sleepover guests, who also cuddle up with Scratch in their bed. Though the message is more likely to resonate with adults than with children, Graham elegantly conveys the way that Scratch, like childhood, slips "quietly away into the night." Ages 3--7. (Nov.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--A simple story of the discovery of an imaginary friend, and the inevitable waning of the relationship as a child grows. While at the grocery store, a small white preschooler, Ellie, discovers a newborn dragon and names it Scratch. The two are inseparable at first. Although Scratch is invisible to adults, all the children Ellie meets are smitten with the tiny dragon. As Ellie grows up, the friendship fades--along with Ellie's ability to see Scratch--until one day the dragon quietly leaves. But not to worry, the dragon is quickly adopted by another friend, a small brown-skinned boy, Sam. Graham's bittersweet text is a pleasure to read aloud: "Ellie grew some more. She turned five and started kindergarten. She was so excited that she forgot to take Scratch along. It completely slipped her mind! / So Ellie didn't see her dragon's first flight…which was mainly downward." Keen observers will note the way that phones and technology take up more of Ellie's attention as she grows, but readers are left to draw their own conclusion as to whether that's a hidden message or simply a nod to reality. Graham's soft illustrations refreshingly include an authentic variety of body shapes, hairstyles, family units, and more to create a world that feels completely ordinary and a little bit magical. VERDICT A quiet and sweet contemplation of growing up that is a solid addition for large collections.--Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Lib., MN
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Review by Horn Book Review
Ellie discovers Scratch, a tiny dragon, atop a carton of eggs in the grocery store. He fits perfectly into her toddler hand. Taking him home, she cares for him tenderly, providing a matchbox bed in her dollhouse and a diet of "nasturtiums, chilis, burnt toast, and charcoal briquettes." Years go by, and girl and dragon grow up together. Scratch is a hit at birthday parties and good company at a sleepover. The sweet child-pleasing secret of the story, obvious throughout, is that adults are oblivious; they don't see Scratch at all. Inevitably and poignantly, as Ellie becomes a teenager, the two grow apart. Scratch is now too big for his corner of her room, and he longs to fly out the window. Ellie's focus shifts to her human friends. Scratch "fades." This shift is signaled by a change in style as Graham's busy cartoony pictures morph, for one spread, to a dark, quiet, impressionistic night-sky cityscape, gemmed with lights and stars. There's a bigger world out there for both of them. The setting here is signature Graham (Home in the Rain, rev. 9/17, and many others) -- joyful and messy with vibrant urban street life, domestic catastrophe and clutter, parents with scruffy beards and bed-heads. A fine addition to the rich tradition of imaginary-friend literature. Sarah Ellis November/December 2020 p.72(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
As a girl gets bigger and older, her imaginary friend…well, gets bigger. Spotting Scratch--"pale and luminous, with shifting rainbow colors, like oil on water"--crawling from an egg carton at the store, little Ellie makes a home for him in her bedroom dollhouse. When she's old enough for preschool, she brings him along to be admired by her classmates (grown-ups can't see him), and he comes along to the movies when her dad visits on weekends too. But when she turns 5 and goes to kindergarten, Scratch stays home, and as years go by he gets harder and harder to see. Finally, when Ellie turns 13, Scratch slips away…to be found wandering the streets by little Sam. In Graham's typically restrained, softly hued cartoon scenes, Scratch grows from mouse- to bus-size but always somehow fits, even in Ellie's cozy bedroom, without crowding. Along with Graham's calm, abstracted expressions and the occasional piercing, tattoo, or punk hairdo, the dot-eyed human figures in street and classroom settings display subtle but visible differences in racial presentation: Ellie and her parents are White; Sam and his family are people of color. Though the story bears obvious similarities to "Puff, the Magic Dragon," its emotions are more nuanced and contemplative than that hoary classic's. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.5-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.) A low-key love story about growing and outgrowing. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
