How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is the least Viking-like Viking on the whole of the Isle of Berk! Hiccup and his colleagues from the Hooligan Tribe face their first big challenge in this first book in the series. They must raid the Dragon Nursery and bring back a dragon baby for each of them to compete in the Dragon Initiation Programme. Whoever is the best will earn the honour of killing their first dragon in front of the entire county of Berk. The Meatheads who are also joining in the competition are the Hooligan tribe's fiercest rivals.

It is time for the amateur Vikings of Berk to raid the dragons' nest. They creep quietly in and snatch a baby dragon each for themselves and stow it away in a basket that they have been given. Unfortunately for Hiccup, he gets a Common or Garden dragon, one of the least terrifying dragons on the surface of the planet! Fortunately for Snotface Snotlout (another amateur Viking) he grabs a Monstrous Nightmare, the fiercest dragon on Berk and which has a habit of setting itself on fire! Hiccup calls his dragon Toothless and Snotface calls his Fireworm.

All of the amateur Vikings have to train their dragons so they can do the basics - fishing, sitting, sleeping in the right place and a few chores. They must be able to do all of these to complete the Dragon Initiation Test. Toothless is very stubborn so Hiccup has to bribe him somehow to train him... the one thing Toothless loves is a joke but Hiccup is really bad at telling jokes!

Near the end of the book, the amateur Vikings from Berk must join together with the Vikings from the Meathead Island and the rest of the Hooligan village to defeat Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, a very old but very large monster dragon. Hiccup finds out that he once ate a whole Roman galleon and fell into a coma for several hundred years. He has awoken from his deep sleep and eaten another smaller seadragon and is heading for the isle of Berk!! Hiccup and the other amateur Vikings must persuade another seadragon to do their dirty work and fight the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus. Hiccup hopes that they will tear each other apart and that there'll be nothing left but a pile of bones!!!

If you're into Vikings and gruesome tales and dragons, then this is definitely the book for you. It's hilariously funny and the illustrations and scribbles are fun too. Rating: 8 out of 10.

the How To Train Your Dragon website