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Poo-Poo and the Dragons
It was published in 1942, before the war impacted book production. Forester came up with the premise for the book while he was at home in the Berkeley hills, minding his two boys while his wife Kathleen was away. The younger of the two, 8 year old George, went on a hunger strike; he refused to eat. Forester made up the stories to tell during dinnertime, but would only tell them if George would eat. If George stopped eating, Forester stopped talking mid-sentence. By the time Kathleeen returned home and everything returned to normal, there were a number of Poo-Poo stories, and 3 dragons. Forester collected the stories in manuscript form and Little Brown published it.
143 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
11 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
C.S. Forester
240Ìýbooks952ÌýfollowersCecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 10, 2020
I can't believe that I haven't reviewed this book yet! This was absolutely my favorite book as a child! I did my first book report on it, and even made a diorama with a clay dragon! C. S. Forester is mostly known for the Horatio Hornblower books, but he also wrote this charming story of a young boy and his pet dragon. If the narrative of the book can be believed, Forester's wife goes to visit her mother, and his son refuses to eat whilst Mummy is away. For every dinner eaten without fuss, a chapter of this story is told. The story itself is about Poo-Poo Harold Heavyside Brown who lives with his mother, and his father (who is a very clever man), and one day befriends a dragon whose name is (obviously, according to the father) Horatio Heavyside Dragon.
The book is hilarious and charming for all ages, and I've read it too many times to count! Out of print for many years, I once tried to steal the BYU library's copy, which had no bar code and HAD NEVER BEEN CHECKED OUT! But my husband dissuaded me since I was just one week from graduating when I found it hidden in a crack in one of the shelves. Sigh. A year later he found me a copy for Christmas. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.
2020: Just read it aloud to my kids, ages 15, 11, 8. I've read it to them before, but they were too young to remember it. They got super into it, especially remembering all the hilarious names.
The book is hilarious and charming for all ages, and I've read it too many times to count! Out of print for many years, I once tried to steal the BYU library's copy, which had no bar code and HAD NEVER BEEN CHECKED OUT! But my husband dissuaded me since I was just one week from graduating when I found it hidden in a crack in one of the shelves. Sigh. A year later he found me a copy for Christmas. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.
2020: Just read it aloud to my kids, ages 15, 11, 8. I've read it to them before, but they were too young to remember it. They got super into it, especially remembering all the hilarious names.
May 26, 2018
This book wasn't *quite* as fun and enchanting as I remember it being when I was 7, but 2 1/2 decades will do that to you. It was still an amusing book that I would happily recommend as a family read aloud, or for young chapter book readers who used to love .
June 5, 2009
I have looked and looked for this book. Now that I've read the synopsis, I realize that alot of others would also like it. Written in 1945, it was a popular story of it's time.. All four og us liked it. It is a book I remember mother reading to us about a boy. Poo Poo who has imaginary dragons in his backyard.
February 8, 2014
What a charming, charming book. And how nice of Tom and Madeleine to let me come to their house, drink coffee and read their copy. It's out of print, and the SFPL does not circulate their two copies. It would be an excellent read aloud book for someone with children - Forester made up the tales to get his son to eat dinner, and I really enjoyed them. The illustrations are spectacular.
May 12, 2009
One of the great kid's books of all time...
January 13, 2011
Hilarious for both grown ups and kids- we read it over and over. It is no longer in print though, so if you find one, buy it! It is worth the price.
September 20, 2011
Childhood favorite
July 18, 2019
Just what you'd expect. Putting Lawson's utterly delightful pen and ink illustrations together with C.S. Forester's humorous tale of Poo-Poo the pet dragon together results in picture-book magic.
December 2, 2018
A cute story, but I kept getting annoyed because the author kept saying "You remember what their name is," right?" It almost made me forget the names of the characters I was supposed to remember. That, and I got so tired of the author saying that PooPoo's father was a very clever man. Yeah, he was pretty smart I guess, but it was pretty obvious that PooPoo's mother was the smarter of the two parents. I think this book was a bit more childish than I like reading.
October 28, 2020
C. S. Forester told these tales to his son to get him to finish his supper. He collects them here in a nice children's book with amusing tales of the boy Poo-poo and his pet dragon. Tales are told as a father encouraging his son, often reminding the boy to remember the names characters earlier introduced. Somewhat annoying as I had to turn back often to recollect what those names were. Very nice children's book.
July 31, 2024
It`s been a very long time since I`ve enjoyed any children`s book so much. The author of the "Horatio Hornblower" books penned an utterly charming piece, which any adult would enjoy quite as much as the tinies.
June 6, 2025
This is a very silly book. It is meant to be silly. Some thing you would read at night chapter by chapter to your child. If I had a small child to read chapter by chapter to I would have enjoyed the story 100x more.
April 14, 2020
Excellent children's book.
March 19, 2025
Quirky and fun! The kids really enjoyed it!
May 10, 2015
What fun to find such fun entertainment in this popular children's classic from C.S. Forester. It is the only children's book written by C.S.F. and came about because C.S.'s son George (Poo-Poo) went through a phase of not eating well. So, like any resourceful parent, CS started telling a story with the proviso that the story would continue if George continued eating. If George stopped eating the story would stop, mid-sentence if need be.
What resulted are 21 episodes about Poo-Poo and his pet dragon that lived in the backyard. Horatio Dragon and later Ermentrude Dragon and Baby Dragon, get into all sorts of amusing scrapes and misadventures with the local authorities and neighbors. Mr Brown (Poo-Poo's father) needs to regularly remedy awkward situations and he does so with ludicrously imaginative directives and suggestions. After all, he is a very clever man and he keeps reminding his audience about this fact.
My grandson and his mom told me of the fun they had reading this charming book.
What resulted are 21 episodes about Poo-Poo and his pet dragon that lived in the backyard. Horatio Dragon and later Ermentrude Dragon and Baby Dragon, get into all sorts of amusing scrapes and misadventures with the local authorities and neighbors. Mr Brown (Poo-Poo's father) needs to regularly remedy awkward situations and he does so with ludicrously imaginative directives and suggestions. After all, he is a very clever man and he keeps reminding his audience about this fact.
My grandson and his mom told me of the fun they had reading this charming book.
June 24, 2014
What fun I had watching my five year old grandson listen intently to the adventures of Poo-Poo and his pet dragon Horatio. We both found ourselves highly amused by the same clever sillinesses imagining Poo-Poo and his dragons while they experienced all sorts of amusing scrapes and misadventures with local authorities and neighbors. What surprised us were the ludicrously imaginative directives and suggestions that Poo-Poo’s father came up with as remedies for often awkward situations.
You’ll find refreshing entertainment in this popular children’s classic from C. S. Forester.Ìý I consider myself lucky to have found an ebook version at eNet Press.Ìý
This is a rare one ... enjoy!
You’ll find refreshing entertainment in this popular children’s classic from C. S. Forester.Ìý I consider myself lucky to have found an ebook version at eNet Press.Ìý
This is a rare one ... enjoy!
September 28, 2015
I found this book at a used book store and wanted it just because of the title. It cost a little more than I wanted to spend on it though so I left without it. Later on I looked it up online and saw that it was a lot more expensive and out of print. So we ended up getting the bookstore owners to lower the price and got a good deal!
The stories inside are pretty silly and not that exciting for an adult but I can imagine that they would be entertaining for kids! If I had read this earlier on in life life most other reviewers I might have appreciated it more. :)
The stories inside are pretty silly and not that exciting for an adult but I can imagine that they would be entertaining for kids! If I had read this earlier on in life life most other reviewers I might have appreciated it more. :)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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