A review by bel017
A Friend For Dragon by Dav Pilkey

1.0

It is not clear from the cover that this book is about death. Dragon is sad because he is lonely - something lots of kids can relate to, especially now (being in lockdown). No one wants to be his friend and he's tricked into thinking an apple is his friend. His friend is then murdered. He buries his friend's body. Then he grieves. While he grieves an apple tree grows where he buried his friend. When he finishes grieving he sees the tree. It's a full-blown mature tree so he grieved for a good decade, even longer if there was no gardener or it's a slow growing variety. In all that time of grief he doesn't make a single friend. The book ends with him getting a new apple to befriend.

I can see how this could be used for children mourning the death of a loved one, but there's nothing about that on the cover. All the poor thing wants is a friend and he never ever gets one. It's pretty heartbreaking.