Far, far away in the ocean there is a mysterious Wild Island. There, in the impenetrable jungle and muddy waters of the big river, there live treacherous animals who really don’t like it when strangers invade their domain. Traveling to these parts is incredibly dangerous, but how can you sit idly by after learning that someone is in trouble on the Wild Island? How can dangers frighten someone who is rushing to help a friend? And could there be anything more interesting than the story of what happened “one day, when dad was still little”?.. American writer Ruth Stiles Gannett told this kind and mischievous story about the resourceful boy Elmer and the flying dragon back in 1946. Since then, the book has not stopped being published and read; it was awarded the Newbery Medal of Honor as the best work for children and was recognized as the favorite children's book of several generations of readers. It is published in Russian for the first time in a wonderful translation by Grigory Kruzhkov. The publishing house expresses gratitude to N. N. Vikhtinskaya for her assistance in preparing the publication.+0