The Reluctant Dragon (short story)

"The Reluctant Dragon" is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame, originally published as a chapter in his book Dream Days.

[2] The story takes place in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire (where the author lived and where, according to legend, St. George did fight a dragon).

[3] The story also has an opening scene in which a little girl named Charlotte (a character from Grahame's The Golden Age) and a grown-up character find mysterious reptilian footprints in the snow and follow them, eventually finding a man who tells them the story of the Reluctant Dragon; two abridged versions (one by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by John Segal and another abridged and illustrated by Inga Moore) both omit this scene.

A New York Times review by Emily Jenkins notes that this framework is somewhat long-winded and might cause some parents to worry about whether the story can keep children's attention.

In 1965, Hanna-Barbera Records produced one of the first children's album versions of the story, featuring cartoon characters Touché Turtle and Dum-Dum, giving the tale a modern allegory about prejudice.