96. How To Train Your Dragon

96. How To Train Your Dragon. Cressida Cowell. 2003. 214 pages. [Source: Library] [audio book, 3 stars, children's fantasy]

First sentence: A Note from the Author: There were dragons when I was a boy.

Premise/plot: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is the 'hero' of Cressida Cowell's How To Train Your Dragon. He's the son of a chief, a viking, but among his peers--among anyone really--he's not the strongest, brightest, best. The novel opens with him hoping that he can manage to steal a baby dragon--any kind of dragon. He ends up with the smallest dragon anyone has ever seen. And the training manual isn't all that helpful. The book merely says: YELL AT YOUR DRAGON. THE END. Is there a better way? Will Hiccup get thrown out of his clan?

My thoughts: The book is nothing like the movie of the same name. NOTHING. I was actually disappointed that the book is so very different from the movie. (I really liked the characters from the movie and the premise of the movie.) That being said, I did like it. There were a few scenes that were enjoyable. I wish I'd not had the movie to compare it to.

ETA: I listened to this on audio in August 2025. The narrator was David Tennant. I thought he did an excellent job narrating the book. 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews