In 1947 Godden published her first children's book, The Doll's House. The protagonists of that book are dolls who converse with each other, worry about their circumstances, and, most of all, wish for a child to do something for them. The children who care for the dolls become better people for having done so.

Later books like The Kitchen Madonna (1967), Mr. McFadden's Hallow'en (1975), and The Diddakoi (1972) focus on the theme of the acceptance of an outsider, which is the principle theme in The Dragon of Og.