The Boy Who Lived with Dragons Read online

  Well, that’s what I thought anyway. But of course this isn’t the end of the story. Not by a long shot.

  Andy Shepherd is a children’s writer working on middle-grade fiction and picture books. She lives near Cambridge with her husband, two sons and their border collie. She spends her spare time trying to figure out how to move this beautiful city closer to the sea. The Boy Who Lived with Dragons is her second book. You can follow her on Twitter @andyjshepherd or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andyjshepherd/

  Sara Ogilvie is an award-winning artist/illustrator. She was born in Edinburgh in 1971 and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. Sara’s many picture books include The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson, The Worst Princess by Anna Kemp, and Izzy Gizmo by Pip Jones. Her middle-grade fiction includes Phil Earle’s Demolition Dad (and others in the Storey Street series).

  www.saraogilvie.com

  www.nbillustration.co.uk/sara-ogilvie

  Acknowledgements

  So here come the thank-yous part two!

  Huge thanks to Sara Ogilvie for her stunning illustrations. They are simply a joy.

  I also want to give a massive thank-you to the wonderful people at Piccadilly Press and Bonnier Zaffre for showing so much love and excitement for the series.

  To my lovely editors – Georgia Murray, who has brought so much to these books, and Talya Baker, for her eagle-eyed expertise. You have both made this whole process great fun.

  To Emma Matthewson for bringing the idea to the Piccadilly team in the first place and to Jane Harris for making my dragons and me feel so at home.

  Massive thanks to Nick Stearn, whose cover design and vision for these books, along with Sara’s wonderful artwork, has made all three of them so beautiful. And to Sue Michniewicz for her care and creativity with the internal design and layout – you have all made these books look amazing, thank you!

  As Tomas might say, megatastic thanks to James Horobin, Nico Poilblanc, and the whole sales team, who have championed Tomas and the dragons from the very start; Ruth Logan, Ilaria Tarasconi and Angie Willocks for their hard work in getting these books out into the wider world; Nicola Chapman and Tina Mories for their efforts with the marketing and PR; Heather Featherstone for expert proofreading and Jamie Taylor for organising the paper and printing and arranging things with the lovely folks at Clays the printers, who welcomed me in to see The Boy Who Grew Dragons flying off the press.

  A big shout-out to all my new bookish friends – an unexpected and brilliant part of writing has been meeting such amazing people. You’re an inspiring bunch!

  Special thanks to Polly Faber, Lorraine Gregory, Maz Evans, Ross Montgomery and Kiran Millwood Hargrave for reading my debut before it was even properly in the world and for their lovely comments about it. Also to James Nicol, Vashti Hardy, Jen Killick and my writing twin, Tizzie Frankish. You have all been generous to a fault with advice and support. Thank you for making this whole mad malarkey so much fun.

  There are some writers who genuinely inspire you to keep going – I’m grateful to Caroline Green, Abi Elphinstone and SF Said for their advice and honesty along the way.

  An extra special thank-you to the book bloggers and reviewers who work so hard to share their love of books with a wider audience. Especially the mighty Jo Clarke – Jo, your excitement for books is infectious! Thanks for all your enthusiasm and support over the past couple of years – and the laughs; you really do keep me grinning!

  Similarly to another Jo – my super-agent Jo Williamson.

  Finally, to Ian, my rock through everything. And Ben and Jonas – my wonderful boys. Thank you for bringing magic to my everyday.

  Thank you for choosing a Piccadilly Press book.

  If you would like to know more about our authors, our books or if you’d just like to know what we’re up to, you can find us online.

  www.piccadillypress.co.uk

  You can also find us on:

  We hope to see you soon!

  First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

  PICCADILLY PRESS

  80–81 Wimpole St, London W1G 9RE

  www.piccadillypress.co.uk

  Text copyright © Andy Shepherd, 2018

  Illustrations copyright © Sara Ogilvie, 2018

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  The right of Andy Shepherd and Sara Ogilvie to be identified as author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-1-84812-681-7

  Piccadilly Press is an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre Ltd,

  part of Bonnier Books UK

  www.bonnierbooks.co.uk