How to Train Your Dragonbook 1 - Softcover

Cowell, Cressida

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340999071 ISBN 13: 9780340999073

Publisher: Hodder Children's Division, 2010

Synopsis

Hiccup Haddock Horrendous III was a truly extraordinary Viking hero. The warrior chieftain and awesome sword fighter was known as 'the Dragon Whisperer', on account of his power over these terrifying beasts. But it wasn't always like that, and this is the story of his rise to fame, in his own words.

About this title

About the Author

Cressida Cowell is the author and the illustrator of the bestselling How to Train Your Dragon book series, and the author of the Emily Brown picture books, illustrated by Neal Layton.

How to Train Your Dragon has sold over 8 million books worldwide in 38 languages. It is also an award-winning DreamWorks film series, and a TV series shown on Netflix and CBBC. The first book in Cressida's new series, The Wizards of Once (also signed by DreamWorks), is a number one bestseller.

Cressida is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency and a founder patron of the Children's Media Foundation. She has won numerous prizes for her books, including the Gold Award in the Nestle Children's Book Prize , the Hay Festival Medal for Fiction, and Philosophy Now'magazine's 2015 Award for Contributions in the Fight Against Stupidity.

She grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland and she now lives in Hammersmith with her husband, three children and a dog called Pigeon.

Review

Highly original. Uproarious. * Woman's Weekly * 'What a fab book ... will definitely make you laugh out loud!' * Torquay Herald Express * 'If you haven't discovered Hiccup yet, you're missing out on one of the greatest inventions of modern children's literature.' * Julia Eccleshare, Guardian children's editor * Cowell writes laugh-out-loud books with plenty of boy appeal. Cowell's anarchic drawings suit the slapstick humour. * The Herald * Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful. * Independent on Sunday * 'a hilarious and gripping adventure, beautifully paced and studded with great dramatic scenes.' * Amanda Craig, Times * [Cressida Cowell] puts a contemporary spin on the old brains over brawn moral and brings the story to a climax with a thrilling dragon duel. Lots for lots of different readers to enjoy. * Books for Keeps * ... raucous and slapstick ... liberally illustrated with [Cressida Cowell's] riotous drawings, notes and maps. * The Financial Times * How to Train Your Dragon is a delightful narrative caper... It offers a challenging read to 11-year-olds, and rewards reading aloud, especially for those who relish an element of theatre at story time. * Sunday Herald, Glasgow * CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK: This book is great fun and has a Blackadderish sense of humour ... full of the sort of jokes that will make schoolboys snigger. * Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times * Fiercely exciting and laugh-aloud funny, it is as full of joy for children of 7+ who have given up reading as for those who love it. * Amanda Craig, The Times * '... inspired series ... its enchantment lies primarily in the comical, affectionate and often irritable relationship between Hiccup (the only nerd in the violent Viking Hooligan tribe) and his runty little dragon Toothless.' * Amanda Craig, The Times * 'another triumph from the creative pen of Cressida Cowell.' * Writeaway.org * '... full of charm ... imaginative and bursting with inventive, off-the-wall humour, making them great stories to be read aloud.' * Waterstones Books Quarterly * ' The combination of cartoons with sharp wit is what makes this book so uniquely special.' * Books Quaterly (Waterstones) * Has a good story to it -- Jamie, aged 9 * Daily Record * Descriptive and flowing, Cowell's Dragon novels have become deserved hits at the cinema, too. * Time Out * Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon books fill every spread with scales and fangs and typographical jeux d'esprit * The Independent * Cowell is a master of storytelling...On a profound level, this series celebrates divergence and being true to oneself, teaching children that they don't have to be carbon copies of their parents * Hay Festival of the Arts * Wise, colourful and funny * Dorset Echo * Funny, thrilling and ideal for children needing to discover the hero inside themselves * The Times * Cressida Cowell's series of the memoirs of Hiccup the Viking are funny, outrageous and will lure in the most reluctant reader * The Spectator * Top stuff * The Daily Telegraph * Gripping adventure stories complete with quests and battles, a vivdly imagined alternative world * The Daily Telegraph * This book will definitely make you laugh out loud * Torquay Herald Express * Cowell's wittily written books have become today's childhood must-read stories * Books Quarterly (Waterstones) * What we have here is Harry Potter meets Blackadder. The result is a story that anyone with a tolerance of snot and gore would find richly entertaining * The Glasgow Herald * This light-hearted, well-illustrated mock saga would appeal to girls and boys. My Dad liked it too. More please. -- Geoffrey Truscott, aged 11 * The Glasgow Herald * Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful * Independent on Sunday * I can't praise this wonderful adventure too highly -- Amanda Craig * Independent on Sunday * One of the most enjoyable and original children's stories I have heard in a long time * The Independent * Her genuinely fierce, intelligent and scary dragons nearly steal the show, but Hiccup and his diminutive sidekick ultimately come out on top, both displaying a proper hero's mix of quick wit, courage and loyalty * Kirkus * The start of the most original series for kids in ages. Funny, clever and great for the whole family to share * Dundee Courier * A laugh out loud romp of a Viking adventure * Observer * Hilarious * guardian.co.uk * Proper modern classics * Sunday Express * By turns hilarious and wise, it's never predictable, brilliantly illustrated and always delightful * The Times * Filled with thrilling adventure and action-packed heroes -- Charlotte Tarling, Year 6 * Country Child * If you haven't discovered Hiccup yet, you're missing out on one of the greatest inventions of modern children's literature -- Julia Eccleshare, Guardian's children's books editor Mentioned in the 100 Best Children's Books Ever (Novels) * The Daily Telegraph * The first in the successful series... perfect for tricky boy readers, as the action scenes are first-class. * The Sunday Telegraph * Full of bright wit and brutal honesty, this is a brilliant book that launched a huge series ... This is a fantastic adventure that explores failure as well as success and weighs the cost of being different against the price of fitting in with sneaky maturity and shining humour * The List * Has a good story to it -- Jamie, aged 9 * Daily Record * Descriptive and flowing, Cowell's Dragon novels have become deserved hits at the cinema, too. * Time Out * Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon books fill every spread with scales and fangs and typographical jeux d'esprit * The Independent * Cowell is a master of storytelling...On a profound level, this series celebrates divergence and being true to oneself, teaching children that they don't have to be carbon copies of their parents * Hay Festival of the Arts * Wise, colourful and funny * Dorset Echo * Funny, thrilling and ideal for children needing to discover the hero inside themselves * The Times * Cressida Cowell's series of the memoirs of Hiccup the Viking are funny, outrageous and will lure in the most reluctant reader * The Spectator * Top stuff * The Daily Telegraph * Gripping adventure stories complete with quests and battles, a vivdly imagined alternative world * The Daily Telegraph * This book will definitely make you laugh out loud * Torquay Herald Express * Cowell's wittily written books have become today's childhood must-read stories * Books Quarterly (Waterstones) * What we have here is Harry Potter meets Blackadder. The result is a story that anyone with a tolerance of snot and gore would find richly entertaining * The Glasgow Herald * This light-hearted, well-illustrated mock saga would appeal to girls and boys. My Dad liked it too. More please. -- Geoffrey Truscott, aged 11 * The Glasgow Herald * Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful * Independent on Sunday * I can't praise this wonderful adventure too highly -- Amanda Craig * Independent on Sunday * One of the most enjoyable and original children's stories I have heard in a long time * The Independent * Her genuinely fierce, intelligent and scary dragons nearly steal the show, but Hiccup and his diminutive sidekick ultimately come out on top, both displaying a proper hero's mix of quick wit, courage and loyalty * Kirkus * The start of the most original series for kids in ages. Funny, clever and great for the whole family to share * Dundee Courier * A laugh out loud romp of a Viking adventure * Observer * Hilarious * guardian.co.uk * Proper modern classics * Sunday Express * By turns hilarious and wise, it's never predictable, brilliantly illustrated and always delightful * The Times * Filled with thrilling adventure and action-packed heroes -- Charlotte Tarling, Year 6 * Country Child * If you haven't discovered Hiccup yet, you're missing out on one of the greatest inventions of modern children's literature -- Julia Eccleshare, Guardian's Children's Books Editor Mentioned in the 100 Best Children's Books Ever (Novels) * The Daily Telegraph * The first in the successful series... perfect for tricky boy readers, as the action scenes are first-class. * The Sunday Telegraph *

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder Children's Division
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0340999071
• ISBN 13: 9780340999073
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240