11.03.2009

the dragon who liked to spit fire








there's something about castles and dragons that immediately evokes a feeling of childhood imaginings for me. this book is really the embodiment of such childhood fantasies. there's also great merit to creatures that should be frightening, such as a fire spitting dragon, that are personalized into little cuddly BFFs. i used to have a dragon ring (high school-ish) that i would fantasize could come alive and live in my pocket and light my cigarettes (thank god i'm no longer a smoker...and i no longer fancy dragon rings). guess the fantasy lasted a long time for me :)

the dragon who liked to spit fire by judy varga
weekly reader children's book club edition, 1962, william morrow and company, new york
pictures also by judy varga

5 comments:

Jan L said...

I loved this book so much as a child that I named my 1st son Darius, just like the dragon! He was before I heard of the football player or the singer. I'm hoping my librarian sister can get me a copy! Jan Leitzke Helena, MT

rachael said...

what a legacy...being named after a dragon! thanks for visiting jan :)

Unknown said...

If the Judy Varga that wrote this book also wrote 'Gremlins At Work', we are the family of the norwegian lawyer and Spitfire pilot, Bernt Barge, that she was engaged to when he his Spitfire failed over Norfolk, England in may of 1943. Does anyone know more about Judy Varga's life story?

fred said...

Hi, Barb,

I am Judy Varga's son, she died quite a while ago in Vancouver, Canada.

She was in Jamaica when she wrote The Dragon Who Like to Spit Fire, then we moved on to California and she wrote many more children's books, but this was always my favorite.

I am, of course, Frederik (she had to use the different spelling in the book).

Her second most popular book was most likely Mrs. Lollipop's Lion.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I remember my dad reading this book to me as a kid. Brings back so many memories.