Series · humor

Dragon

The Dragon series by Dav Pilkey has 5 known books (5 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Dragon Gets By (1991).

Books: 5 known books (5 novels)
Published: 5
First published: 1991
Status: completed
Shelved under: Humour

Start here: Dragon Gets By (1991) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Dragon Gets By (1991)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

Book 1:

Dragon Gets By

Novel 1991
Dragon Gets By , published in 1991 at 48 pages, is one of three Dragon books Dav Pilkey released that year, alongside A Friend for Dragon and Dragon's Merry Christmas . Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dragon Gets By

View book
Book 2:

A Friend for Dragon

Novel 1991
A Friend for Dragon (1991, 51 pages) is one of Dav Pilkey's five original Dragon picture books, following the gentle, accident-prone blue dragon through one of his ordinary mishap-turned-misadventures, painted in the same soft, loose watercolors as the rest of the series. It runs slightly longer than Dragon Gets By, published the same year. Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Friend for Dragon

View book
Book 3:

Dragon's Merry Christmas

Novel 1991
Dragon's Merry Christmas (1991, 48 pages) rounds out Pilkey's three 1991 Dragon books, following the gentle blue dragon as he hosts a Christmas that goes charmingly awry -- painted, like the rest of the series, in the soft watercolors Pilkey bought from a local grocery store. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dragon's Merry Christmas

View book
Book 4:

Dragon's Fat Cat

Novel 1992
Dragon's Fat Cat (1992, 48 pages) follows the gentle blue dragon as he takes in a stray cat he has no idea how to care for, continuing the quiet, domestic-mishap comedy that set Pilkey's Dragon apart from his later, broader slapstick work. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dragon's Fat Cat

View book
Book 5:

Dragon's Halloween

Novel 1993
Dragon's Halloween (1993, 64 pages), the longest of these five Dragon books, finds the gentle blue dragon throwing a Halloween party that goes sideways -- one of the small domestic disasters that define Pilkey's earliest recurring character. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dragon's Halloween

View book

Key facts about the Dragon series

Our list has 5 books in the Dragon series. Since all 5 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with Dragon Gets By, since it opens the publication order in 1991. A Friend for Dragon is book 2, from 1991. Dragon's Merry Christmas is book 3, from 1991.

Dragon's Fat Cat is book 4, from 1992. Dragon's Halloween is book 5, from 1993.

The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 1991 and 1993, while their length runs from 48 to 64 pages. That is a run of 2 years.

Dav Pilkey has 67 books on our list. Additionally, they write Big Dog and Little Dog, Captain Underpants and Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot, plus 2 more series. We shelve the books under humor.

About the Dragon series

Years before Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey's Dragon was his first recurring character: a gentle, accident-prone blue dragon living alone in a small house, whose five early picture books each follow him through one ordinary mishap-turned-misadventure -- taking in a stray cat he has no idea how to care for, bungling his own chores, throwing a Halloween party that goes sideways, hosting Christmas.

Pilkey wrote and painted the series with watercolors bought from a local grocery store, and the resulting look -- soft, loose, faintly homemade -- matches Dragon's own gentle, unhurried temperament. Where Pilkey's later work leans into broad slapstick and gross-out gags, Dragon is quieter and kinder: its comedy comes from a well-meaning character muddling through small domestic disasters rather than from villains, monsters, or toilet humor.

Originally published by Orchard Books between 1991 and 1993, the series later became a 67-episode stop-motion animated TV show (2004-2007) and was reissued by Scholastic as part of its Acorn early-reader line starting in 2019, with three of the five original books bound together as Dragon Tales.

How to read this series

Each Dragon book is a fully standalone story, so there's no strict reading order to follow -- pick whichever premise sounds appealing. This entry lists the five books in their original 1991-1993 publication order as given by their most detailed available source; the exact month-by-month sequence of the three 1991 titles (Dragon Gets By, A Friend for Dragon, and Dragon's Merry Christmas) could not be independently confirmed beyond that source, so treat the ordering among those three specifically as approximate rather than verified.

Scholastic's 2019-2020 Acorn early-reader reissue presents the books in a different sequence (numbered 1-5 starting with A Friend for Dragon) aimed at new readers rather than reflecting original publication order; this entry tracks original publication, not the reissue's numbering.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in Dav Pilkey's Dragon series?

5 picture books, originally published by Orchard Books between 1991 and 1993: Dragon Gets By, A Friend for Dragon, Dragon's Merry Christmas, Dragon's Fat Cat, and Dragon's Halloween.

What order should I read the Dragon books in?

Any order -- each book is a fully standalone story about the same gentle, accident-prone dragon character, with no ongoing plot connecting them.

Is Dragon connected to Captain Underpants or Dog Man?

No. Dragon is Dav Pilkey's earliest recurring character, predating Captain Underpants by several years, with no story connection to his later, better-known series.

Was Dragon made into a TV show?

Yes -- a 67-episode stop-motion animated series aired from 2004 to 2007, based on Pilkey's picture books.

Is Dragon still in print?

Scholastic reissued the series starting in 2019 as part of its Acorn early-reader line, with three of the five original books also bound together in a collection called Dragon Tales.