Dragons!

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

Elmer Elevator is on a mission to save a baby dragon from the Wild Island.  This quick thinking little boy is equipped with a backpack full of supplies that he uses to solve various problems with surly animals he meets along the way.  Following a tip from an old alley cat, he becomes a stow-away on a ship and lands on the island of Tangerina. From there he figures out to cross the land bridge begins making his treacherous trek around the Wild Island to save the dragon (we later find out his name is Borris.  I wish I had a dragon named Borris).  He runs into an assortment of different animals that are less than pleased he is visiting.  He manages to distract them with his bag of tricks (who knew, if you give tigers chewing gum, they will not eat you) and saves the dragon.  We absolutely love this book.  And by love, I mean I have to confiscate it from under Doodle's pillow almost every night. We tracked Elmer's progress with the detailed map at the front of the book after every chapter.  Ruth Gannett wrote two other books after this, Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.  We read both of those and they were a bit disappointing.  They were not quite as exciting as the first book. Every little adventurer should read this book or have it read to them.  It was our first venture into chapter books and was the perfect choice!