Story Time: Dragons, a boy’s best friend…or so I hope

Story Time with LE

Story Time with LENikki and I hope you’ll join us today for Story Time with Literary Escapism, a bi-weekly feature where we showcase various children books that fall directly in the fantasy & science fiction genres, as well as books we’re enjoying with our young children. We’re talking boardbooks, picture books, those books labeled as beginner or newly independent readers, and middle grade – anything of interest to those readers who are not quite ready for the young adult genre. So we hope you’ll join us on the carpet as we share the stories that have captured our little ones imaginations.

I have some fabulous news to share.  Munchkin LOVED The Spiderwick Chronicles!  I thought they were very cute and entertaining, with goblins, trolls, sprites and all sorts of mystical creatures.  I didn’t enjoy the pacing though.   It’s almost like, a master book/story was written and then each chapter was broken down into pieces.  Those pieces were turned into chapters themselves which then became an individual book.  As in the fragments from chapter one from the ‘master story’ were turned into chapters to form book #1.    It’s rather odd but I’m sure it’s to keep from overwhelming a young reader.

CSLewis-The-Magicians-NephewOur next series to try is the Chronicles of Narnia, which I am super excited about.  We’ve only read one chapter of The Magicians Nephew, but at the end of it, Munchkin’s face lit up and he said ‘Oh I can’t wait to read the next chapter’!

When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory’s peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew’s magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.

Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia.

Who would have thought my son, the boy who is very literal and strives by rules would enjoy fantasy worlds where anything can happen?!

While the Chronicles of Narnia will be used for home school purposes, he needs something new to read in his spare time.   Going with his newfound love of magic and magical creatures, I thought he could explore the world of dragons!  They happened to be one of my favorites so it was kind of a no brainer.  Plus, once he’s ready, I have Eragon and The Hobbit waiting for him.

CCowell-How-to-Train-Your-DragonI’m happy to report I found quite a few options to choose from:

  1. How to Train Your Dragon is our first choice! There’s something about a boy named Hiccup that makes me grin. I’m super stoked that we have a local used children’s book store, otherwise between him and I, and our books, we’d drain the bank account in seconds.

    Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon

  2. Dragon Slayers Academy by Kate McMullan with illustrations by Bill Basso and Stephen Gilpin

    When a traveling minstrel foretells that he is to become a hero, Wiglaf sets out to fulfill his destiny: he signs up at the Dragon Slayers’ Academy. But how can he ever hope to be a dragon slayer when he can’t even stand the sight of blood?

  3. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

    Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart – and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon – and finds the family and excitement she’s been looking for.

  4. DPaul-DragonSpellDragon Spell

    One Dragon Egg Holds the Key to the Future.

    Once a slave, Kale is given the unexpected opportunity to become a servant to Paladin. Yet this young girl has much to learn about the difference between slavery and service.

    A Desperate Search Begins…

    A small band of Paladin’s servants rescue Kale from danger but turn her from her destination: The Hall, where she was to be trained. Feeling afraid and unprepared, Kale embarks on a perilous quest to find the meech dragon egg stolen by the foul Wizard Risto. First, she and her comrades must find Wizard Fenworth. But their journey is threatened when a key member of the party is captured, leaving the remaining companions to find Fenworth, attempt an impossible rescue, and recover the egg whose true value they have not begun to suspect…

    Weaving together memorable characters, daring adventure, and a core of eternal truth, Dragonspell is a finely crafted and welcome addition to the corpus of fantasy fiction

Now to go book shopping!  Woohoo!

About Nikki R 120 Articles
SAHM of 2, happily married bookworm, blogger and aspiring author. If I could read/write all day, every day, I would. Luckily I have a very understanding, and patient, husband who lets me get away with it as much as possible. Now if only the kids would understand my obsession, and the house would clean itself, then I'd be all set.

3 Comments

  1. I have always been a voracious reader and wanted the same for my boys. The older one jumped right in and read just about anything he could get his hands on. The younger has been more of a challenge. He loved the how to train your dragon. Another interesting dragon series for younger readers is the Dragon Keepers series by Kate Klimo. Hope he enjoys them all!

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