How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Cressida Cowell (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)

Someone has stolen the Fire Stone. Now the volcano on Volcano Island has become active and the tremors are hatching the eggs of the Exterminator dragons. Can Viking hero Hiccup return the Fire Stone in time to save the Tribes from being wiped out by the Exterminators? Illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'exuberantly illustrated ... laugh out-loud books, they will convert even the most relcutant reader to take their first dip.' -- Julia Golding, TES 'a hilarious and gripping adventure, beautifully paced and studded with great dramatic scenes.' -- Amanda Craig, Times 'Cowell writes laugh-out-loud books with plenty of boy appeal ... Cowell's anarchic drawings suit the slapstick humour.' -- The Herald 'Fiercely exciting and laugh-aloud funny, it is as full of joy for children of 7+ who have given up reading as for those who love it.' -- Amanda Craig, The Times Irresistably funny, exciting and endearing -- Amanda Craig, The Times CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK: This book is great fun and has a Blackadderish sense of humour ... full of the sort of jokes that will make schoolboys snigger. -- Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times How to Train Your Dragon is a delightful narrative caper... It offers a challenging read to 11-year-olds, and rewards reading aloud, especially for those who relish an element of theatre at story time. -- Sunday Herald, Glasgow ... raucous and slapstick ... liberally illustrated with [Cressida Cowell's] riotous drawings, notes and maps. -- The Financial Times [Cressida Cowell] puts a contemporary spin on the old brains over brawn moral and brings the story to a climax with a thrilling dragon duel. Lots for lots of different readers to enjoy. -- Books for Keeps Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful. -- Independent on Sunday 'funny, outrageous and will lure in the most reluctant reader.' -- The Spectator 'If you haven't discovered Hiccup yet, you're missing out on one of the greatest inventions of modern children's literature.' -- Julia Eccleshare, Guardian children's editor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Cressida Cowell is the good-friend and confidante of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Viking warrior and hero of The Heroic Misadventures. When she is not visiting with Hiccup to document his latest memoir, she lives in the UK. She is also the author of The Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, What Shall We Do With the Boo Hoo Baby? and numerous other picture books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316117749
• ISBN-13: 978-0316117746
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cressida Cowell grew up mostly in Central London. 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. 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. Cressida has written and illustrated eight books in the popular Hiccup series. The unique blend of child centred humour and sublime prose made Hiccup an instant hit. How to Train Your Dragon has reached over 100,000 sales and is now published in over 30 languages. A Dreamworks feature film is due to be released in 2010. Also the author of picture books, Cressida has won the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 and has been shortlisted for many others. Cressida lives in Hammersmith with her husband, three children and two cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, June 18, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)) (Hardcover)

The summer has been unnaturally warm at the Isle of Berk, but despite persistent Omens of Doom, the worst of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III's worries is to not make a complete fool of himself during the Pirate Training Program. Throw in Toothless, Hiccup's disobedient dragon who has a knack for trouble, and his evil cousin, Snotface Snoutlout, and you have a recipe for almost certain disaster.

However, things change from embarrassingly to deadly in a snap. During a Reindeer Herding Lesson, the entire class nearly perishes in a freak forest fire. It turns out that the volcano is becoming active and thousands of vicious dragons called Exterminators are hatching from the heat.

Hiccup and his best friend, Fishlegs, don't look like hero material. They are both eleven years old and the scrawniest boys in their Viking class. But through some luck and clever sleuthing, they uncover why the volcano is erupting and how to stop it.

Once again, it all boils down to Hiccup to throw together a quest and save the day.

Cressida Cowell's fifth story in THE HEROIC MISADVENTURES OF HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III, HOW TO TWIST A DRAGON'S TALE, is a hilarious and fun read. Her Vikings, while unhygienic and violent, sing in perfect harmony. Almost every page is illustrated with black and white drawings or pithy song lyrics.

This book is an odd combination of the strange and the familiar. Readers will encounter dragons of all kinds, a bit of magic, a few bullies, and the seriously weird but typical antics of parents.

Reviewed by: Natalie Tsang

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a grand adventure, July 15, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)) (Hardcover)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a young bumbling and reluctant hero. He seems to have quite a knack for stumbling across adventures in which he somehow manages to beat the bad guy. In this fifth adventure, Hiccup determines that thousands of highly deadly Exterminator dragons will be hatched if the volcano on a nearby island erupts. Hiccup, his friends, and his dragons must find away to stop the volcano from erupting, and do it fast. Can even Hiccup stop an erupting volcano or has he finally met his match?

Hiccups adventures are highly entertaining, especially for little boys who love adventure and fantasy. Each book stands alone as each contains a separate adventure. There are references to other adventures but you do not have to have read those books in order to follow the current tale. The book isn't just for little boys but the language and names of the characters are particularly appealing to little boys who find any reference to body functions very humorous. For example, the boy's pirate training instructor is named Gobber the Belch and some of Hiccup's classmates are named Fishlegs, Snotface Snotlout, Tuffnut Junior, and Dogsbreath the Duhbrain.

The book is written as a kind of journal of Hiccup's adventures and is heavily illustrated by the Viking child's drawings. I enjoyed the book and this series has my ten-year-old son thinking maybe he could write a book like this (with his own adventures of course). I think this is an excellent series to give to a child who is not that interested in the idea of sitting down to read or write, for in it they may find the spark for their own imagination--and what could be better than that!

Armchair Interviews says: Wonderful adventures set off by great illustrations make for a fun book. Fine for Middle Reader or Young Adult ages.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss the Audio Versions!, October 16, 2008

By 

Tara Jordan (Roanoke, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)) (Hardcover)

I agree with all the other glowing reviews for this series, and have to add this as well: don't miss the audio versions of these stories!! They are wonderfully engaging audiobooks read with delightful enthusiasm by none other than David Tennant. His character voices are hilarious! He gives 110% in the reading of these fun tales, diving right into them with gleeful abandon that children everywhere will find very entertaining. I can't recommend the audiobooks highly enough. If you enjoyed reading these, try listening to them. You won't be disappointed!