Dream Days (1898) is a collection of children's stories by Kenneth
Grahame. It was published as a sequel to The Golden Age (1895), a
collection of semi-autobiographical stories reflecting on the nature of
childhood and the strange, distant lives of adults. Although less
popular than The Wind in the Willows (1908), which would go on to
become not only a defining work of Edwardian English literature, but one
of the most popular works of children's fiction in the world, Dream
Days features "The Reluctant Dragon," one of Grahame's most enduring
short works of fiction.
Carrying on the themes and concerns of The Golden Age, the author
reflects on his youth among elders who exemplified Victorian values of
stoicism and quiet decency. In these stories of innocence and
experience, he recalls the games they played, the places they
discovered, and the legends they made of the normal, the boring, and the
everyday wonders of an old world seen through young eyes. "The Reluctant
Dragon," the centerpiece of Dream Days, is a story about a young boy
who discovers a wise, poetry-loving dragon while exploring the Berkshire
Downs near his home in Oxfordshire. Against all appearances, the two
sensitive souls become fast friends. When the townspeople discover the
dragon, however, they send for the legendary St. George to slay the
creature they see as a threat. Faced with the loss of his only friend in
the world, the young boy must convince St. George to not only spare the
dragon's life, but to convince the townspeople of his kind and gentle
nature. Dream Days is a collection of stories for children which finds
room for fantasy and adventure in the smallest of places, and kindness
in the largest of hearts.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Kenneth Grahame's Dream Days is a classic work of
British literature reimagined for modern readers.
