Jennifer M. (Kaydence) reviewed How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon, Bk 1) on + 380 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Summary: A little Viking boy named Hiccup needs to get and train a dragon in order to become an initiated member of the tribe. It's very important to Hiccup because his dad is the leader. The problem is Hiccup is small, uncoordinated, and not the least bit intimidating. He does not have any of the skills that are so important to the tribe, and his classmates have little faith in him. The good news is that all of the dragons are hibernating when it's time to go catch one. The bad news is that Hiccup is supposed to lead. Since this is How to train a dragon, you must know that Hiccup is triumphant in retrieving a baby dragon; a very small, toothless baby dragon. After this success, Hiccup has the task of training the stubborn little fellow. Eventually this relationship leads the two of them into a wild adventure with a huge dragon that thinks of everyone as their next meal. How does this unlikely pair survive?
My thoughts: This was a real fun read. I went on a comedy kick during the summer and pulled this whole series off the shelf. It definitely fit the bill. The things that the characters say had me laughing out loud (to the odd looks of those around me). Some of the vocabulary is difficult for younger/beginner readers, but it's because of the way things are described and talked about. I would recommend the use of context clues instead of a dictionary to go through these unknown words. The book is altogether worth a few hours to read, especially with your children. It has adventure, comedy, excellent character development, and a decent moral. 5 Stars
My thoughts: This was a real fun read. I went on a comedy kick during the summer and pulled this whole series off the shelf. It definitely fit the bill. The things that the characters say had me laughing out loud (to the odd looks of those around me). Some of the vocabulary is difficult for younger/beginner readers, but it's because of the way things are described and talked about. I would recommend the use of context clues instead of a dictionary to go through these unknown words. The book is altogether worth a few hours to read, especially with your children. It has adventure, comedy, excellent character development, and a decent moral. 5 Stars
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon, Bk 1) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first book in the How to Train Your Dragon series. At this time there are nine books in this series with the most recent one being the ninth book in the series, How to Steal a Dragons Sword. This was a fun and heartfelt read; full of adventure and, of course, dragons.
I read this book with my 5 year old son and he enjoyed it immensely.
In this book we follow Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to capture and train a dragon in order pass his test to become part of the Harry Hooligan Tribe.
Hiccup is not your typical viking; he is not good at yelling or being scary...but he can speak Dragonese and he is good at strategy. When he ends up with a scrawny and uncooperative garden variety dragon Hiccup despairs of things ever going right.
This book is much much different from the movie. Hiccup has the same sarcastic sense of humor, but Toothless is pretty much an obnoxious brat. There is no riding of dragons; the baby dragons are too small for that. Hiccup isnt an inventor of strange devices; but more of a strategist with spurts of bravery.
It is a very cute story though, even if it isnt quite as dramatic as the movie. Watching Hiccup move from outcast, to a leader of sorts who is respected for his ideas and action is great and very well done.
This is a story about friendship and respecting people for their differences. Of course there is also a lot of action and a lot of humor throughout as well. Much of the humor is slapstick type but there is some witty banter in there as well.
There are some sketches throughout the book too; they arent all that great...basically scribbles. But these illustrations are funny and do add humor to the story.
Overall an excellent story. One of those ones that both kids and adults will find humor in. This would be a great series for kids five and up; either to read on their own or with their parents depending on age. Very different from the movie; so dont go into this series expecting a replay of the movie. Recommended to children/YA who are into dragons and adventure and love some humor in there too.
I read this book with my 5 year old son and he enjoyed it immensely.
In this book we follow Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to capture and train a dragon in order pass his test to become part of the Harry Hooligan Tribe.
Hiccup is not your typical viking; he is not good at yelling or being scary...but he can speak Dragonese and he is good at strategy. When he ends up with a scrawny and uncooperative garden variety dragon Hiccup despairs of things ever going right.
This book is much much different from the movie. Hiccup has the same sarcastic sense of humor, but Toothless is pretty much an obnoxious brat. There is no riding of dragons; the baby dragons are too small for that. Hiccup isnt an inventor of strange devices; but more of a strategist with spurts of bravery.
It is a very cute story though, even if it isnt quite as dramatic as the movie. Watching Hiccup move from outcast, to a leader of sorts who is respected for his ideas and action is great and very well done.
This is a story about friendship and respecting people for their differences. Of course there is also a lot of action and a lot of humor throughout as well. Much of the humor is slapstick type but there is some witty banter in there as well.
There are some sketches throughout the book too; they arent all that great...basically scribbles. But these illustrations are funny and do add humor to the story.
Overall an excellent story. One of those ones that both kids and adults will find humor in. This would be a great series for kids five and up; either to read on their own or with their parents depending on age. Very different from the movie; so dont go into this series expecting a replay of the movie. Recommended to children/YA who are into dragons and adventure and love some humor in there too.
Helpful Score: 1
Love this book, great for any ages, from little kids to adults. Though it's nothing like the movie (love the movie too, by the way), this book is really great and I would highly recommend it!
Jay N. (ajdowning) reviewed How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon, Bk 1) on + 21 more book reviews
A great and simple plot to follow. The book is easy to read since it's a kids book. Cowell's artwork is funny because it's got the juvenile vandalism style kids do to their books. It was nice there were illustrations. There were also statistics on the dragons. That was my favorite part of the book since I play a lot of role playing games and and it seems perfect to have since many children grow up playing games. The Viking content is awesome and would be a great introduction to Viking culture to people without the archaic words that make reading regular Middle Age books difficult.
