The Legend of Draco, King of the Castle - Bedtime Story

The Legend of Draco, King of the Castle

A short bedtime story about a dragon who saves a castle — and then discovers he is a better storyteller than he is a fighter. Around 240 words, so it reads aloud in about three minutes.

The illustrated PDF is free to download below, and the whole story is on this page too.

The story

Once upon a time, there lived a brave and noble dragon named Draco. He lived in a magical kingdom far away, where dragons were revered and respected.

One day, Draco was flying high in the sky when he spotted a beautiful castle in the distance. He flew closer to investigate and soon realized that the castle was in danger.

A group of evil dragons had taken over the castle and were terrorizing the people who lived there. Draco knew he had to do something to help. He flew down to the castle and used his powerful fire breath to drive away the evil dragons. The people of the castle were so grateful that they invited Draco to stay with them.

Draco accepted their invitation and soon became a beloved member of the castle. Every night, he would tell the children of the castle bedtime stories about brave dragons and their adventures.

The children loved Draco's stories and would beg him to tell them more. Draco was happy to oblige and soon became known as the best storyteller in the kingdom.

The people of the castle were so grateful to Draco for saving them that they made him their king. Draco ruled the kingdom with kindness and justice, and the people of the kingdom lived happily ever after.

Reading it together

• Around 240 words — about three minutes read aloud, which is roughly right for a settling-down story.
• Eight illustrated pages in the PDF, one scene per page, so a child can follow along by picture even before they can read the words.
• Simple past tense throughout and no complicated vocabulary, which makes it a reasonable early reader for a confident six or seven-year-old to try alone.

Things to talk about afterwards

Bedtime stories work better with one question than with ten. Pick whichever fits the night:

• Draco is made king for driving the bad dragons away — but what do the children love him for? The story quietly makes the point that he is remembered as a storyteller, not a fighter.
• Why do you think the people trusted him so quickly?
• What story do you think Draco told the children first? This one usually gets a longer answer than you expect.

A note on the name

You may see this story called both Draco and Dragon. The dragon's name is Draco — the older link used the word "dragon" and we have kept it working so nothing breaks.