How to Train Your Dragon: The Chapter Book

by J.E. Bright

All young Vikings must prove they are fierce and strong enough to fight dragons. But Hiccup isn't as brawny as his friends and fails miserably at dragon training. So he invents a new weapon that can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006156737X
• ISBN13: 9780061567377
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: HarperFestival
• Length: 57 Pages
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

Reading Aid

This is very interesting to boys especially and is a big help in getting them to settle down and start reading. The story is fun, interesting and exciting so children naturally want to know what the next page brings.

Very satisfying story for the age group (and older)

I like reading novelizations of movies and, since this movie will not have anything for older readers (graphic novel anyone?) it was nice to see such a good version written for young people. I like that the author chose to stick with telling the story from Hiccup's first person perspective, which is how it should be told. He brought a lot of emotions and insights in for scenes not shown in the movie and also showed was going on through Hiccup's mind, as a smart teenager might feel. His description of finally realizing how beautiful Night Furies are when he confronts Toothless as a friend for the first time is really touching. You also get a lot of nice descriptions on how Hiccup and Toothless became a good team and, even more so, really good friends who were so in tune with each other that they could understand each other without words. The author has a style similar to "The Hunger Games" books in that Hiccup describes everything as it happens to him. The author also did not shy away from the realism in the story, which I think is good for this age group- both Hiccup and Toothless face a lot of risk in their endeavors, picking up bruises and scrapes and minor burns, but they also learn from it and improve on it with Hiccup creating new inventions to make them a better team. The climax is wonderfully and honestly told, too, about how the Viking youth and his wild dragon show what you can accomplish from teamwork when two different beings work together... but also the respect we owe people who put their lives in danger to save other lives.