Dragonslayers [Hardcover]

Bruce Coville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994 | Age Level: 9 and up

After Grizelda creates the fiercest dragon in the kingdom's memory in order to take revenge on King Mildred, the job of putting the beast to death falls to an old squire, a young page boy, and a willful princess.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6?Fourteen-year-old Princess Wilhelmina, the "most willful person anyone in the kingdom had ever met," wants to kill a dragon herself, more to prevent the indignity of being married off to a dragonslayer than to save the kingdom. Predicated on a rather gruesome grudge (the witch Grizelda has lost her husband and son to the king's war and creates a dragon to murder the king's child), the story builds to the confrontation between the beast and two sets of slayers: an elderly squire and his page, and a disguised Willie and her talking bear. The adventure is confused by some mysterious family ties, spirits of the forest, a remorseful witch, and repentant royalty. Some of the dialogue is pretty sharp-tongued, but occasionally it is downright mystical. Young readers will enjoy the intrigue, laugh at the banter between Willie and her sexist companions, and accept the weird conflation that brings everyone together. For those who are familiar with Patricia Wrede's masterly "Enchanted Forest Chronicles" (Harcourt), Coville's title may seem like a sort of lead-in for preteens. Like Wrede's books, The Dragonslayers is at its best when the feisty heroine is demolishing the proper princess role. The pencil drawings (one per chapter) are sufficiently dragonly and the cover is terrific.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. A dragon is menacing the kingdom, and the king promises the hand of his daughter to the beast's slayer. Coville adds some nice flourishes to this standard plot: a princess who dons a disguise and hunts the dragon herself (she wants some say in the choice of a husband); a servant lad accompanied by the world's oldest squire; some New Age forest spirits; a passel of talking animals; and a king named Mildred. The princess and the servant lad are particularly interesting characters, and the dragon is appropriately nasty. This nondemanding novel, atmospherically illustrated by Katherine Coville, has some appealing elements that will draw readers of both genders. Mary Harris Veeder

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671890360
• ISBN-13: 978-0671890360
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,789,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, May 10, 2003

By 

K. Seserman "kimses" (Upton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dragonslayers (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (School & Library Binding)

This is a great read for an 8-9 year old girl.
It has enough suspense to keep your attention
but nothing too scary that might keep kids awake
at night. Willie, the main character, is a strong
female character that does not fall into
stereotypical roles. She proves that a girl can
do anything she wants if she put her mind to
good use.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dragonslayers (Paperback)

I was a huge fan of Bruce Coville in 4th grade when I read the "My teacher is an alien" series. That series got me hooked to his style of writing, so of course I got my hands on every book of his I could. I read this book in 8th grade, 4 years ago. It is definitely an easy read, but I was completely carried off by the story and read it straight through the first time I picked it up. Then I read it through again, the very next day. I believe I've read it about 4 more times since then, just because it's such a great example of a rollicking, fairy-tale adventure. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an entertaining, captivating read. I only gave it 4 stars because I think it could use some more description in places plus the simplistic language. It's still a beautiful tale, though.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Teacher's Grade: B, September 17, 2005

By 

N. Bilmes "bookaholic" (Vernon, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dragonslayers (Paperback)

I'm a second grade teacher and found Coville's book to have a lot of strengths, but also found it to be overlong and drawn out.

The story itself is timeless: Kill a dragon destroying the kingdom. The characters are caricatures, however, and all seem to have come out of a character-factory. The story zips along nicely, with plenty of action, but gets muddled due to an excessive amount of characters who have very little to do to the plot besides pad the pages.

Overall, I'm not sure what audience Coville was trying to reach. The dialogue and some of the situations seem designed for Grades 5-8, but the lack of details and amount of silliness seem intended for kids in grades 2-4.

I wouldn't read this aloud to my 2nd grades, but might give it to a 4th grade teacher to share.