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Ginny's egg ISBN: 9780434971527
Goodhart, Pippa
Published by Heinemann, 1995

When Ginny finds an oddly shaped egg in her grandmother's hen house, she realises it is about to hatch and takes it home. In the night it hatches into a beautiful little green dragon. Ginny is very protective of the little dragon, and 'Egg' is loving and gentle in return. Ginny's mum goes off to hospital to have their longed-for baby, but something is wrong. The baby boy is a down's syndrome child, and Ginny's parents - particularly her mum - find this hard to accept. Mum rejects the baby, much to Ginny's horror. But when Ginny takes Egg back to the hen house, believing the hens will look after him until his mum comes for him, she realises she has rejected him too. Egg is injured by the hens and sets the hen house on fire when he breathes fire trying to protect himself. Ginny must rescue him, and when she arrives home covered in smoke and carrying the sad and battered Egg, gran discovers Egg's existence. She tells Ginny that she too had a dragon, after Ginny's grandad died, and that her little dragon had gone when she had been able to cope. Ginny's Egg will fly one day too - which he does, gloriously, just as mum brings baby Owen home from the hospital. Ginny will love and protect Owen just as she has loved Egg. An achingly beautiful story about a loving family - and especially a loving little girl - coping with a major crisis in their lives.
Age: 8+