Customer Reviews

How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III))

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is the first in a series about a group of young boys embarking on a journey to become part of their village's viking clan. The boys must each capture a dragon and train it. The book is surprisingly engaging and very funny. The characters speak as you would imagine young vikings would - crude little-boy speak about snot and such, the dragons speak their own language, which you can learn throughout books in this series, and the author's narrative is sublime literary prose. With this blend, Cowell has the most unique literary style I have ever read! Parents will love the quick pace and unique style, boys will think it's cool, and girls will giggle.

This book looks younger than it really is in both vocabulary and humor. My ten year old girl read it and loved it. The humor is very entertaining. I read it to my 8 year old son at bedtime as well and we all enjoyed it. I recommend this book for 7-12 year old children.

The book is fantastic, great story fun illustrations and a great read-a-loud.
However... There are some bad copies of it floating around where a group of pages are doubled up and a group of pages are missing. If you order this wonderful gem, be sure to check the pages around 121-152. Unfortunately this is at one of the very exciting parts of the story so best to find out before beginning reading.
Fortunately the publisher is very friendly and helpful about replacing mis-produced books and you just have to contact their customer service to remedy the situation.
So do enjoy this little treasure.

I am one of the lucky generation that got to experience this book as a child, right in the prime 7-12 demographic it is intended for.

I can tell you with all honesty, I have kept it within reach of my bed for about six years now, even as I have grown to love Shakespeare, Huxley, and quite a few other old masters during my literature-loving days of high school.

(And I see you giving me that funny look- a scribbly little book about a crazed pack of Vikings and an ineffectively housebroken dragon? I am dead serious, and not ashamed to admit it.)

This book is a gem, and a keeper. I have only grown to love it more, now that I, thanks to some great Lit classes, have the tools to REALLY appreciate it. The recent Dreamworks movie, alike in the basics down to its snarky little hero, yet differing completely in conception, has only strengthened this love.

It's a very simple story, with a very simple hero.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is small, skinny, and rather unremarkable. He isn't particularly good at sports, prefers a civil conversation to a fistfight, and can almost spell "motivation" correctly.

In other words, he's a terrible Viking. Being son of the Chief and The Hope and Heir of the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans doesn't help matters much.

Following the ancient traditions of his clan, he and his fellow novices are ordered to capture, raise and train their own dragons in preparation for an all-important initiation ceremony. However, the dragon that Hiccup gets saddled with (and I do not mean that literally, ya movie buffs), though pint-sized and completely toothless, proves to be more than his little trainer can handle using the traditional Viking method (YELL AT IT). Consequently, Hiccup begins to design his own training techniques, talking directly to the beasts rather than relying on intimidation.

When a disaster occurs at the Initiation and a rather ominous Seadragonous Giganticus Maximus (or two) washes up on the shores of Berk, it is up to Hiccup and his crazy new ideas to save his tribe from Certain (Green) Death, and thereby prove himself.

For a book about the crude, violent shenanigans of (author-professed) historically inaccurate Vikings, it is unexpectedly deep. In fact, there's some very genuine, down-to-earth morals and wisdom here that I have only noticed by effectively growing up with this book. (Don't look at me that way! I'm serious!) The movie only scratched the surface of what this book really has to offer when it told the tale of a strange little Viking who ends up succeeding thanks to his strangeness.

"How to Train Your Dragon" is fundamentally a book about problems and how to solve them. It's about putting things in perspective. It explores (a la Hamlet, actually) the equalizing quality of Death. It examines (with incredible humor) the helplessness one can feel under the onslaught of a violent, misguided world, and how eccentricity can be valuable in an environment plagued with stagnant values. It, like the rest of Cowell's Hiccup books, shows a hero who would much rather talk things out with his foe than barge into violence.

The great irony of this book is that the dragon never gets "trained"- at least, not in the way you'd expect it to be. While exuberant, melodramatic and even crude in her execution, Cowell is completely down-to-earth when it comes to the real truths of life.

I will proudly read this, and the other Hiccup books, to my kids.

Aside from being a silent genius, Cowell is a pure delight to read. She plunges into the story unafraid, flinging sea-salt, sarcasm, and excessive capitalization everywhere. The combined effect of her wild, scribbly illustrations and her zany descriptions brings to mind an animated cartoon- it's all very cinematic, and it's not surprising at all that someone felt the itch to make a movie from it. If I made this book sound like a introspective epic, I will tell you now, it's NOT. It's a very light-hearted melodrama with a loose sense of logic, that evokes the bright, brave exuberance of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake.

Fare carefully, though, sailor- Cowell's humor is colorful and varied. You'll find light humor, black humor, sarcasm, irony and slapstick- there are a few intelligent jokes and lot of really stupid ones. (The Vikings- aside from Hiccup- aren't really known for their eloquent communication skills.)

If there is a low point about this book (and the other Hiccup books), it is that Cowell delights in the disgusting, and is unafraid to make you cringe- snot and excrement are not only discussed- they actually mark significant plot points.

Still, if you can stomach a few (thankfully brief) bathroom gags, a few risque plays on words such as "Big Axe Books", and a distinct lack of female characters (Hiccup's mother- very much alive- is the only one of consequence, who shows up for about four sentences total), you're in for a real treat. If nothing else, it is a very entertaining read that will give your kids the giggles, and give you an opportunity to stretch your acting skills: with its gruff Viking yellers, sarcastic heroes, and self-satisfied dragons, the book BEGS to be read out loud.

(By the way, the book is worth reading for its incarnation of the Green Death alone- he's quite the suave, self-satisfied philosopher of sorts, a fabulous villain that wasn't quite given his full dues in the movie version, because the dragons didn't talk. Hiccup's grandfather Old Wrinkly, the old Gobber, the real role of Snotlout as the ultimate bully, and the original, best-friend role of Fishlegs need some love as well. Plus, unlike the movie, there are no amputees! (That's all in the second book. Har har har.))

This has steadily been one of my favorite books for six years, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And if you like this little book at all, be sure to check out Hiccup's next adventure, How to Train Your Dragon Book 2: How to Be a Pirate. It's a blast!

I have a really hard time finding age-appropriate fun books for my 6th grade son. There's tons of stuff for girls, but my son....wow. Really tough. He ATE this book up! He asked if we could get the Pirate one and the second dragon book in the series.

This book was very fun to read! Emma- age 6

After watching the film by Dreamworks, my wife and I really wanted to get the book for our daughter. She loved the movie and wanted to have the book. After getting the book I found that the experience was far from what we expected. This book is NOTHING like the movie whatsoever. In fact, the only similarity is the name of the boy and the name of the dragon. The entire story is different. In fact, it kind of bored my daughter to where she didn't want me to read it to her anymore and I wound up finishing it myself so that I could have something to say in this review (I refuse to review something I haven't finished). That said, I understand why so many like these books, and they are definitely targeted at boys and not girls. I liked the way the layout was presented, with childish illustrations and bios on the breeds of dragons which made reading it fun (for me). I had some issues with the story and the way the character interacted. I don't mean to sound like a prude, but the vocabulary used and the way the children interact with one another is pretty poor. I would never want my kids talking to each other like these kids talk to one another. I also thought that emphasis on death was a little strong. The overall story was decent, but much better executed in the film version. The moral is clearer and the overall emotional swell is dominant in the film. I loved what the screenwriters did with the story, but after reading the book it became clear that they didn't really adapt the book as much as steal the name and the name of the main character and just write whatever it was that they wanted to write. Still, this book has its moments and it is entertaining to a degree. I don't know that I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it.

"How to Train Your Dragon" by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was translated from Old Norse by Cressida Cowell. She "translates" a wonderful fantasy journal about a boy named Hiccup, a scrawny boy that's the chief's son. He is the worst boy for the job, as he isn't the best at heroism or training dragons, the two most wanted aspects in a future chief. It is no surprise when on a dragon hunt, Hiccup gets a Common Garden Dragon, while the bully gets a Monstrous Nightmare, the type of dragon only the Chief or Chief's son should get. When a nasty pair of Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus appear on the beach, only Hiccup has a plan to save the day... but will anyone take him seriously? Especially Toothless who is my favorite character and Hiccup's dragon. She has spunk and courage and can whip anybody in seconds. Her only weakness? Jokes, which she insists on hearing before doing ANYTHING. What I liked most about the book was all the dragon facts. For example, did you know that Gronkles are prone to dragon acne? You'll find funny facts like these and more. My strongest reason for recommending this book is for all the imaginative writing. All in all, this book is fantastic. The writing is wonderful. I like the way it's bound with the funky page tears, which works well with the setting and mood of the book. My only question after reading this is what happens in the next one?????

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock is supposed to one day lead the Viking tribe that is currently ruled by his father, Stoick the Vast. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any of the traits that Vikings look for in a leader. Before he can inherit leadership of the tribe, he must first pass an initiation (along with 19 other Viking boys) in which he captures a young dragon and trains it to hunt fish for him, as dragons have done for generations.

This book has all of the trademarks of a traditional contemporary teen novel; the social outcast, the single unpopular friend, the strong bullies, and the out-of-touch, demanding father are all familiar figures to us. But in How to Train your Dragon, these conflicts are set against a goofy, over-the-top surreal Viking background, in which the foremost authority on dragon-training has published his advice in a book (which reads, in its entirety: "Yell at it!"). The humor is broad and plentiful, and the book is broken up by graphic insets that range from amusing childish drawings of the characters to reproductions of pages from ancient tomes on dragons.

Even though I thought that the book didn't work on some levels, I enjoyed the originality. The action scenes involving dragons are interesting, and readers will enjoy many of the jokes. The appearance of an enormous sea dragon provides for some truly chilling moments, and the more serious interactions between the sea dragon and Hiccup are probably the best in the book.

Another strength of the book is the ability to evoke the flavor of a fairy tale, by presenting us with initiation rituals and dragons in a way that sometimes seems magical.

The success of this series will depend on whether the writing can be tightened up in future volumes. The backdrop is consistent and interesting, but the scenes seem somewhat disjointed at times, and not enough is done to generate warmth for the hero. Also, the flame-defeating device near the end is too contrived. These weaknesses are what set the book apart from, say, the Harry Potter books.

Overall, I recommend that you give this book a try; it's a quick read, and you might find yourself eagerly awaiting future installments.

A fun read that makes young (8/9)readers eager for more.