Wait--there's a "How to Train Your Dragon" book series???
Yes, actually! Most people are more familiar with the film franchise based off the series. In fact, we first picked up these books because we loved the movie so much.
Let me go ahead and highlight just one main difference:
So on the right, that's obviously the "movie" Toothless. And on the left.... Yeah. Book-Hiccup doesn't fly around on that thing.
That's the main difference with the characters. Also, no Astrid--so no love interest. (Yay! Our little brother loves that.) And the storyline is nowhere near the same. The movies are absolutely nothing like the books, besides the names and the fact that Hiccup is a skinny loser with a gargantuan chief dad.
This series covers what I can only describe as a great story. The individual books appear to be entirely independent of one another towards the beginning, but then the underlying plot and conflict emerge and it all starts to make sense (so don't just give up on Book 3!). I can only describe this series as the type that makes you want to read it all over again once you've put down the last book--the type that makes you want to run up to random kids and shove it into their hands because the fact is that not many people know about it, and that's a shame, because it's a great series. Cressida Cowell is one of those writers like Roald Dahl and N.D. Wilson who just writes for the kids.
I'd say these books are cute--and they kind of are, at first--but they actually get pretty deep, towards the end. I think they're mostly targeted for little boys, but I know a load of girls who love them. This isn't even one of those cases where you've already seen the movie so the book is spoiled for you--because the films and book series are honestly completely different stories.
I didn't actually read these aloud to our younger siblings, I read them to myself like the mature individual I am. Our little sister read the series aloud and both our younger siblings loved it, but there were a couple of things she censored or toned-down for our little brother's benefit.
Rude Language
Because little boys have potty-mouths, as it is.
Just some mildly rude words. Hiccup's friend Camicazi's mother is called "Big-Boobied Bertha," so our sister just called her "Big Bertha." The word "fart" is used on multiple occasions. There's also a word in Dragonese that is pronounced "crappa" and describes a certain bodily function.
Creepiness
There's a witch--a pale, scrawny hag who walks mostly on all-fours. Creepy! She shows up in later books and there are one or two illustrations of her that we didn't show the eight-year-old, just to be on the safe side (like this gem, on the right).
And you know what? That's all.
These books are just so great. Like I said before: Cressida Cowell is really writing for the kids, here. Chock-full of high adventure and great quotes. This is the kind of stuff that can make a kid fall in love with reading: a fun and hilarious series with virtuous characters who embark on imaginative adventures.
Plus.... I mean, come on. Dragons.
