Customer Reviews

The Dragonslayers

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I had just entered fourth grade at a new school, and we were going to the school library. I saw this book and kind of thought it looked cool. And it was. I only read afew minutes a day so it took me a week to finish this but it was sure good. I loved the giant spider scene and the battle with the dragon at the end. The reason I didn't give this book five stars is because I recall it being alot less epic then other books I have read at the same level such as: Deltora Forests of Silence or Spiderwick Wrath of Mulgrath. It has been three years since I read that book and I am now working to become an author myself. I will occasionally post small stories on the internet. This is a great book and I hope it will be read for years to come.

What would you do if a fierce dragon were to come to your village to destroy everything you knew and loved? In The Dragonslayers, a book by Bruce Coville, King Mildred faces that situation. Stuck in this situation, he goes to all costs to slay the dragon. After his knights turn down the offer, King Mildred deperately promises to give Princess Whilhelmina's hand in marriage to the slayer. Elizar, a squire, takes on the job along with Brian, a young page boy. Despite her father's offer, Princess Whilhelmina goes off to kill thedragon before Brian and Elizar do. In the end, Whilhelmina, Brian, and Elizar team up to kill the dragon. The characters come together with the plot to form a good story. The characters play an important role in this story. They are well described, which makes them very realistic. I liked how each character had his/her own hopes and dreams. Brian wanted to prove to the others that he is more than just a page boy. Elizar hopes to find his long lost son and wife. If you want to read an adventurous book, read the Dragonslayers today!

This book was very good if you are looking for the kind of book where the dragon is evil. I personally like books where the dragon is the good guy. But if you want to read a book totally about dragons then don't read this book because this book is mostly about the slayers.

In the book 'The Dragonslayers" there were 2 witches who made a dragon who caused a lot of trouble. My favorite character is the princess because she wanted to kill the dragon but her dad would not let her but she did any way. My favorite part was when the witches were arguing about what to put in the mix to create the dragon. I would encourage any body to read this book if they like witches that argue and mean dragons. Its a real good book.

"The Dragonslayers" was first a musical play written by Mr. Coville in 1979 at Wetzel Elementary School. I was in his 4th and 5th grade class and it was in 4th grade when I was a maid-in-waiting in the school's production of "The Dragonslayers". I still have pictures (somewhere) of me at age 9 on stage. Needless to say, I'm a bit biased with regards to the book because it holds wonderful memories for me. However, I recently gave it to a young cousin of mine to read and he loved it. Mr. Coville was a fantastic teacher and truly was one of the people who has greatly influenced me. I believe that he is the person who taught me to love literature, mythology and adventure at a young age. He was fun and kind and I remember him fondly as the character Igor who would beat us over the head with his teddy bear and jump on desks and make us laugh; he was not your "traditional" teacher, but someone who could relate to us, young as we were.

With regards to "The Dragonslayers", the story is filled with adventure, mystery, romance, evil, heroism and fun; in short, everything that makes a book great to read. The story is a simple fairy tale with many strange and fun characters who are interesting and likeable because they have "attitude" and are often more than they appear. The tale engages the reader and transforms them to a magical world where anything is possible if you are brave and have a love for adventure. The characters and their conflicts are still relevant today, despite the the lack of dragons in the modern day world.

I hope you read the book and love it as much as I always will,
Superna Hora Kalle.

This book was so exciting. I could not put it down. I loved how the witch could make the dragon with so few ingredients, and a newt. My favorite part is when we met the talking fox.

Note from mom: This book had my 7 year old son laughing till I thought his sides would split.

I was disappointed by this book but will make reservations to see how my students like it. To me this story was talky (lots of dialog) that goes nowhere and meanders along until the end. The story is the typical not typical fairy tale of a princess who wants to do the things boys do. She goes out into the world to become a dragonslayer. Yeah! Unfortunately this new twist on an old tale has become an old tired twist that isn't very refreshing.