About

My Father’s Dragon

Ruth Stiles Gannett wrote My Father’s Dragon just a few years after her graduation from Vassar College in 1944. It was published by Random House, and was an immediate success, becoming a Newberry Honor Book, and was soon followed by two sequels, Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.

My Father’s Dragon was illustrated by Ruth’s stepmother, Ruth Chrisman Gannett. Ruth Chrisman Gannett illustrated numerous books, including Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, and Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin, which won the Newberry Medal for Excellence in children’s literature in 1947.

Ruth Stiles and Ruth Chrisman Gannett

All three dragon stories have been continuously in print in the 70 years since their publication. My Father’s Dragon has been translated into 15 languages after the original in English, including Chinese, Danish Dutch, Faroese, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian,  Spanish, Swedish and Thai!