Caramel reviews How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

The little members of the book bunnies household have been fascinated by the How to Train Your Dragon series in all its manifestations, including the movies and the serials. Marshmallow even reviewed one of the books, How to Steal A Dragon’s Sword, for the blog about two years ago. This year Caramel finally got his paws to the actual books themselves, and today he wanted to review the first book. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, why don’t you start by telling me what this book is about? Assume that I have never heard of How to Train Your Dragon.

Caramel: This is the first How to Train Your Dragon book I read!

S: Okay, so what is it about?

C: It’s about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Hiccup is the son of Stoick the Vast who is the chief of the Hairy Hooligans tribe. They are Vikings. Stoick the Vast is really fat and Hiccup is really skinny.

S: So Hiccup is not like his father, but not only in size, right?

C: Yes. Exactly. Hiccup is not much into fighting but his father wants him to be a real Viking, a real warrior.

S: So how do the dragons come in?

C: Dragons and humans are friends. This is different in the movies because in the movies they are enemies at the beginning. In the book, they all get to have a dragon and train it.

S: That is interesting.

C: Yes. In the book they also say that only chiefs and sons of chiefs can have a special dragon, a monstrous nightmare. But instead of Hiccup, another boy named Snotlout gets the monstrous nightmare. Hiccup doesn’t even try actually.

S: Hmm, so this is in line with his not being chief material, according to his dad, right?

C: Exactly.

S: So how different is the book from the movie? I know you love the movies. Do you like the book version, too?

C: Yes! You should read the book! It is different from the movie but it is good!

S: Tell me more.

C: Toothless in the book is tiny. In the movies he is big enough to fly and carry Hiccup on his back when flying.

S: That’s very interesting. But Toothless is still Hiccup’s friend in the book, too, right, like in the movies?

C: Yes. And apparently dragons can talk to Hiccup. He is the only person who can speak Dragonese, the native language of the dragons. This does not happen in the movies.

S: So do you learn how to train a dragon in the book?

C: Not really.

S: Why do you think the author named these books that?

C: I don’t know. You do learn a lot about dragons though. There is a page where there are some sentences in Dragonese, and then the English versions.

S: Well, you mean dragons who live in the world of this particular series… Okay, looking at how eager you are to move on to the second book, I am guessing you really liked this one. So before we wrap up, tell us your three words for the book.

C: Funny, adventurous, interesting, especially because it is so different from the movies, but I still really liked it.

S: That sounds good Caramel. Then let us end this. What do you say to our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!