Reasons to read the How to Train Your Dragon (series) by Cressida Cowell:ġ. Actually, this will be more like a list of reasons why you should read these books rather than an actual review of this one. Also, since then, I've read (and reread) the rest of the Hiccup books as well.
How to train your dragon update#
I feel like I should update this review, given the amount of likes it's getting, and plus because the above review looks pretty mediocre to me now. Toothless was still her favorite character (and Hiccup mine!)
How to train your dragon movie#
This book is mainly aimed at nine-and-up-year-old boys, but I bought it for me, and I ended up reading it to my little sister, who enjoyed listening to it and surprisingly was able to overlook the fact that it was nothing at all like the movie she loved. You can tell how Hiccup's methods pay off when, having treated Toothless with kindness and generosity such that no other Viking has, Toothless finally feels grateful enough to help him defeat the Green Death. The morals of this story are well-delivered.
It doesn't matter that he can speak Dragonese luck just isn't on his side. I think this version earns the title of How to Train Your Dragon alot more than the movie Hiccup, who already isn't real Viking material, is set up to train an impossibly small yet needy, whiney, vain, ungrateful, disobediant, proud, cheeky, self-centered brat of a dragon Toothless (don't let all those adjectives set you off, he's still cute!), which he quickly understands could take alot more than just the simple advise of Yell At It to accomplish. The characters are likable (as story-book characters, anyway I doubt anyone would want to meet a real Gobber the Belch in person) and the idea and plot are original and entertaining. Still, no matter how much I loved the movie, I loved this book too. I did check up on it before reading it, so I was fully prepared with the knowledge that it was completely different from the movie when I started. Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizesīoy, where do I start? Okay, to make things clear: I did see the movie first (it was one of Dreamworks' best ever!) but that didn't necessarily mean I had expectations for this book based on that. I would rate the film more highly, and that's a rarity for me.
It has some clever bits, some funny bits, and Celyn and me certainly didn't waste our time reading it. The book is good fun but a touch too silly for there to be any real emotional connection with the characters - always a minus for me. Also as in the film there is a hostile uber-dragon (two in fact) that is truly gargantuan. A thinker in a world that's all about fighting. An outsider at odds with his societal norms. In the book the young Vikings (boys only) own and train dragons.Īctually I lie. In the film the young Vikings are trained (in a mixed class) to battle dragons. That's about the end of the similarities. Both share some comical Vikings and a weedy 'hero' named Hiccup. She did fall asleep a couple of times but to be fair she was recoving from a general anaesthetic. I bought the book for my daughter Celyn's 9th birthday and read it to her (she's registered blind and couldn't watch the movie). I saw the film a while back and really enjoyed it. Cressida lives in Hammersmith with her husband and three children.Ħ. Also the author of picture books, Cressida has won the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 and has been shortlisted for many others. A DreamWorks Animation feature film is out in March 2010. How to Train Your Dragon is now published in over 30 languages. The unique blend of child centred humour and sublime prose made Hiccup an instant hit. Cressida has written and illustrated eight books in the popular Hiccup series. Cressida loves illustrating her own work, but also loves writing books for other people to illustrate as the end result can be so unexpected and inspiring.
She has a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, a BA in Graphic Design from St Martin's and an MA in Narrative Illustration from Brighton. She was convinced that there were dragons living on this island, and has been fascinated by dragons ever since. Cressida Cowell grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland.
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