I remembered most of the book and was surprised by that. This one did, but I'd wanted to reread it as an adult. I do not engage with stories that have these elements. This is.a weak book on its own, but -incredibly- when compared to 'Dragon Hatcher.' This book is about bullying, teachers who won't listen, and parents who are the awful balance of helicopter (the mom in this case) and absent (the dad who cannot shut up and does not care if anyone is listening, to kind of an extreme in this story). He doesn't he's a winged, scaly beast though. Dragons weren't so interesting to me to turn into, and I thought Russell had turned into a dragon. I wanted a ring that would turn me into a mermaid or fierce faery. When I was a kid, I was blown away by this. 'Dragon Hatcher' has the same worldbuilding, shop proprietor, illustrations and.that's it. The only exception is the two rats that show up in every one except 'Dragon Hatcher.' I keep emphasizing the differences because they're so blatant. They don't foreshadow or refer to one another in any way.

All the books can be read as standalones.

This first book.is a good introduction to the -series- typical quality, depth, tone and worldbuilding.

The third book was when I stopped reading. The second book in the series, 'Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher' is my favorite, and is wildly different than the others in terms of quality, depth, and tone. His shop sells exceedingly magical supplies, and the books are about the children he sells to for whatever they have in their pocket at the time. This is the first book in the Magic Shop series, of which Mr Elives is the mysterious proprietor. TW: bullying, pardoning bullying, bad parents, accurate portrayal of teachers who don't listen, other stuff.

The Monster's Ring by Bruce Coville