''Jane and the Dragon'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by
Martin Baynton
Martin Baynton is a British author, illustrator, and TV producer now living in New Zealand. His children's book Jane and the Dragon (1988), has become a modern classic which has since been adapted for television and produced by Weta Workshop and ...
. The original trilogy consists of ''Jane and the Dragon'' (1988), ''The Dragon's Purpose'' (1989), and ''Jane and the Magician'' (2000). In 2008 two further books followed: ''Three's a Crowd'' and ''A Dragon's Tail''.
The first book features Jane, a young girl whose mother is a
lady-in-waiting to the queen. Jane is expected to grow up in her mother's footsteps, but wishes to become a knight. When the royal prince is kidnapped by a dragon (who lives near by the kingdom), Jane sets out to rescue the boy. She does and becomes a squire in the process. She does not slay the dragon but instead befriends him, and they soon become best friends. Their adventures continue in the next four books.
Baynton says that the inspiration for the books came from his wanting to write "a story about a girl who wanted to follow her dreams despite the expectations of her family and friends" and from a young girl telling him "how she hated fairy stories because the girls were wimps".
The book series inspired an
animated series on television.
Dragonblade
In 2022 Martin Baynton started publishin
Dragonblade A Jane and the Dragon novel. It is available to read online on the new Jane and the Dragon website.
See also
*
Lily Quench
Lily Quench is a series of children's novels written by Natalie Jane Prior and illustrated by Janine Dawson.
Novels in the series
#''Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby'' released 9 February 2004
#''Lily Quench and the Black Mountains''
#''Lil ...
References
External links
Jane and the Dragon Walker Books (publisher) site
1988 children's books
British children's books
Children's fantasy novels
Fantasy novel series
Fictional duos
Series of children's books
Books about dragons
Dragons in popular culture
Literary duos
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