The Moonlight Dragon

LoveReading4Kids Says

October 2026 Book of the Month

Glowing with lunar loveliness in the form of an aptly-named heroine, and an aptly-named dragon called Spark, Liz Flanagan’s The Moonlight Dragon is perfectly pitched with just the right amount of peril for its intended 8+-year-old audience.  

Wonderfully atmospheric, we first meet Luna as the full moon rises above a hill, where a stone circle stood “like a ring of giants turned to rock”. Within the circle, longing for her missing mother to return, as she does every month, Luna feels safe. And then she spies the impossible: a beautiful dragon diverting a pair of huntsmen away from a nest, which, Luna, later discovers with her new friend Tobi, contains the last remaining dragon’s egg.  

As Luna take on the challenges of caring for a very playful, cutely-purring dragon hatchling, she’s helped by Tobi, who turns out to be a prince. Matters take a scary turn when Luna is summoned to the see the king as a result of Tobi telling his father about Spark: “She felt angry with Tobi for sharing their secret. Had it all been a trap, to catch the last dragon after all?” As things turn out, the King’s intentions were entirely different, but it’s not long before Luna, Tobi, and a third friend Elodie find themselves embroiled in the midst of a mystery that takes a perilous political turn.

Luminous with themes of friendship, compassion and courage, and framed by Luna’s bigger- picture longing for her mum, The Moonlight Dragon dances with magic and lightly-delivered emotional depth, and comes recommended for fans of dragon stories, such as those by Andy Shepherd, Cornelia Funke, and Cressida Cowell, and for readers who relish fiction that radiates fairy-tale charm.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen is a writer, reviewer and workshop presenter whose lifelong love of books began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
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