The Dragonslayers [Audio Cassette]

Bruce Coville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1998

When the witch Grizelda decides to get revenge on King Mildred, she conjures up the fiercest dragon the kingdom has ever seen

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Listening Library (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807279870
• ISBN-13: 978-0807279878
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,642,887 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.