2026 Hardcover Reprint of 1948 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. My Father's Dragon is a children's novel about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon. Both a Newbery Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book, it is the first book of a trilogy whose other titles are Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland. The young boy runs away from home to rescue an abused baby dragon held captive to serve as a free twenty-four hour, seven-days-a-week ferry for the lazy wild animals living on Wild Island.In 2012 it was ranked number 49 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal. The story was written by Ruth Stiles Gannett and illustrated by her stepmother Ruth Chrisman Gannett.