10 BEST PICTURE BOOKS IN GERMAN WITH DRAGONS
Dragons are an evergreen. They come in so many different versions: fierce, powerful dragons that we humans have to fight. Friendly or timid dragons. Misunderstood dragons. Silly dragons. They are part of a magical, fantastical world from all over the world. They are loved by little children as much as older kids reading Harry Potter or The Hobbit, - there probably is the perfect dragon book for every reader! 2024 is also the year of the dragon. So here are our 10 favorite, best picture books in German with dragons. (Beginning reader and chapter books deserve a separate post.)
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler
ZOGG
Zogg goes to dragon school and learns all a dragon needs to know: roaring, fire spitting, flying... The final biggest task is - to kidnap a princess.
Zogg is very keen to learn, but also accident prone. Luckily there is a girl who kindly helps him every time he gets a scrap or burns himself. Could she possibly help with the princess thing as well?
My son loved this book when he was little.
3 years and up
Lieve Baeten
KLEINER SCHRECKLICHER DRACHE
Little dragon knows how to spit fire, but he still has to learn how to scare. To practice he asks his mother to bring a little human, after all little humans are known to be very fearful. They start to tremble and scream as soon as they see dragons. But when his mom brings a little human boy home, things turn out quite differently.
A modern classic that was first published more then 20 years ago.
3 years and up
Aron Dijkstra
RITTER RUFUS. DER DRACHENKÄMPFER
Knight Rufus is determined to fight a dragon, the invincible dragon Bruchhorn. This is what real knights do. He climbs from the small village to the high mountains to find Bruchhorn, but Bruchhorn is not up for it, he says Rufus sword is too small. Rufus returns with a long, long sword, but then Bruchhorn has a new excuse: Rufus is missing a shield. Can Rufus actually fight the dragon?
A beautifully illustrated picture book in warm colors of a medieval world,
with a beautiful message.
4 years and up
Antonia Michaelis / Laura Bednarski
PRINZESSIN ALVA UND DER HUSTENDE FEUERDRACHE
Prinzessin Alva is not your everyday princess. She likes unicorns and flowers just like everybody else - she actually is just on a carriage being pulled by unicorns, when she falls prey to some robbers. But she does not bat an eye, yet alone faint or scream. Just then they all, Alva and the robbers, hear some huffing and puffing - a dragon is on its way! The robbers want to build a trap to get rid of it once and for all...
A picture books with lots of turns and twists, fresh colorful illustrations and a fearless female protagonist.
4 years and up
Annemarie von Haeringen
DER TAG, AN DEM DER DRACHE VERSCHWAND
Mr. Long is a fan of dragons, he has been all his life! He was born in the year of the dragon, his mother got him dragon bathtubs, dragon pacifiers, dragon costumes and dragon carts... you name it! As a kid he wanted to lift high up to the sky, just like a dragon. And even as an adult he still is obsessed with dragons, he builds a dragon house and regals the neighborhood kids with dragon stories. He is convinced, dragons bring luck. The more dragons the more luck! Then a dragon knocks at his doo ..
A beautifully illustrated picture book, all done with a ball park pen by the award winning Dutch illustrator von Haeringen, that invites philosophical discussions.
4 years and up
Robert Starling
KLEINER DRACHE, GROSSSE WUT
Finn is a dragon with a short temper. Not a very good combination as it turns out. Every time he gets angry, he starts fuming - and spitting fire. And thus burns his lunch when he is served peas instead of pudding, He also destroys the soccer goal when he has to be the goalie instead of being the lead striker... His friends and family are a little tired of all this fuming - Finn has to learn to calm down. Luckily his friends show them their strategies. Maybe one works for him?
3 years and up
Michael Ende
DER LINDWURM UND DER SCHMETTERLING
A dragon, fierce and fiery, swallows up a professor and his book - the book though proves unpalatable and he throws it up again, only to find out it has a reference to dragons, using the very old German word Lindwurm. The dragon is truly upset: this delicate name seems terribly unfitting. Meanwhile a butterfly struggles when it learns its German name Schmetterling, so loud and obnoxious sounding...
A classic in beautiful rhyme by the great Michael Ende.
4 years and up
Gemma Merino
DER KLEINE DRACHE, DER KEIN FEUER SPUCKEN KONNTE
The little dragon girl is different, she has trouble with fire spitting and no wings seem to grow, so she can't fly. But she is determined to not give up, building artificial wings to be able to fly. She launches up into the air, but then unfortunately falls right into the water. Scary. Didn't her father say that is the most dangerous place for dragons ever? But she actually feels wonderfully at ease in the water.
A sweet picture book on being different and being accepted as you are.
4 years and up
Donna Lambo-Weidner / Carla Haslbauer
ES GIBT KEINE DRACHEN IN DIESEM BUCH
If you are looking for a funny book, this interactive picture book is a good pick!
We see a normal family home with lots of chaos - real life chaos, not the perfect Instagram world - and we are told there are no dragons. But somehow we can see traces and hints of dragons everywhere. What is true?
You might want to try shaking the book and see what happens.
3 years and up
Christine Nöstlinger / Jens Rassmus
GUTER DRACHE & BÖSER DRACHE
Did you have an invisible friend when you were small? Or does your kid? (My younger one did.) In this picture book by the Grande Dame of Austrian children's literature a boy named Florian has two: Good Dragon and Bad Dragon. Good Dragon is friendly, he spits bubbles and helps him to make friends. Bad Dragon spits fire and protects him from the mean kids. Both have to shrink to squeeze into Florian's house. And it turns out even the mighty dragons are sometimes scared.
4 years and up
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