Tuesday, December 21, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon




How to Train Your Dragon Book 1




Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a truly extraordinary Viking hero know throughout Vikingdom as “the Dragon Whisperer”… but it wasn’t always so. Travel back to the days when the mighty warrior was just a boy, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans. Can Hiccup capture a dragon and train it without being torn limb from limb? Join the adventure as the small boy finds a better way to train his dragon and becomes a hero!


To be honest, I didn’t know there was a book when the movie How to Train Your Dragon came out. Unusual, for me, but I was quite pleased to hear that there was book. Being a dragon obsessed freak show, I picked it up.

The first thing I need to say is that the movie is very different from the book. Almost everything about it is different. So if you’re picking this book up, you need to be aware of this. They’re almost completely different stories.

I mean, Hiccup is pretty much the same kid. He’s still the little wimpy Viking who has to use his brain because he can’t use his brawn. And he has got a dragon named Toothless that sometimes doesn’t have any teeth. And he is the son of Stoic, who is the chief of the clan.

That’s about where the similarity ends.

But I did really enjoy this book. The Vikings are silly and ridiculous, the dragons are amusingly narcissistic and ornery, and the adventure is a wonderful story. It’s fantastic.

I definitely recommend it. It may not be as good a fit for adults as some of the other children’s books I have reviewed, but it’s definitely a book that kids will enjoy if they’re looking for a fun fantasy story.

No comments: