The Dragonling

The Dragonling and its sequels remains one of the best examples of high fantasy for young people that I have ever had the pleasure to read. It is engaging and fun enough to keep younger readers interested, and beautiful enough to be appreciated and enjoyed many years later. The characters are dimensional and understandable; the plot is gripping, new, and a great deal deeper than it appears on the surface. These books first introduced me to the concept that dragons did not have to be brutal animals OR plush and ridiculous characters. The dragons form an important part of the story without degenerating into sidekicks. The story takes place on the world of Zoriac, in a village that has for generations been defined by the dragonquests--ritual hunts undertaken by the men of the village to "protect their families" from the threat of the nearby Valley of Dragons. Derek, the young protagonist, desperately wants to go along with his brother Clep and his father, but is still too young to take part. Discovering an orphaned dragonling with the corpse of its mother, the boy makes the decision to take the little creature back to its home--a decision that sparks the ire of the villagers and eventually a perilous adventure involving kidnapping, the last remnants of a species, a barbaric kingdom in the mountains, slaves, superstition, an outcast king, and one boy's journey to teach his people the truth about their predjudices. A truly stirring story! The Dragonling books skillfully replace the required romance aspect of adult high fantasy with the notion that boys and girls can be friends and equals. Apart from that detail, these books have every bit as much scope as the other fantasy greats; I simply cannot recommend them highly enough. I hope that any future readers out there will enjoy them as much as I have!

Dragonling is a great book. It's centered around a boy named Darek. Darek always wanted to slay a dragon now he gets the chance he always wanted. He finds a blue dragon one of the rarest dragons in the land. Darek takes the dragon back to his home but the village people did not want the dragon in their town. Does the dragon stay or go back to his island? To find out what happens read Dragonling by Jack French Kollier. This book is for sixth graders but the author uses small words for any 4th or 5th grader. I really like the illustrations in the book as well. check it out!

My 8yr old daughter had to read Dragonling for school, we both enjoyed the connection the Dragon and Darek had made and the adventure they went on together. This summer I purchased Dragon in the Family but, did not realize it was the second in the series. We are enjoying this book as much as the first and now seeking the Dragon Quest. The stories are told in a way early readers can understand what they've read and an excellent story line to keep you reading to the end.

The Dragonlings series is excellent. We first learned of the series through an Accelerated Reader list. My seven year old son was so excited about the book that we quickly located the rest of the books in the series. The characters are very appealing. The themes in the book are important for children (i.e. dealing with conflict, dealing with differences in people, questioning why things are always done a certain way), and they are conveyed through humor, questioning characters, and interesting action. We are hoping that the author and publisher will agree to do more. My son was very sad when we got to the end of the final book.

If you want to introduce the fantasy genre to a younger reader, I can't imagine a better starting place than this book. A lot of story is packed into this beginning chapter book. Although some profound issues are raised, I think what will appeal to most young readers is the adventure and the relationship between the boy and the new pet he brings home - which, in this case, happens to be a dragon! Readers will no doubt want to read the rest of the books in this series which, though not as good, are certainly entertaining.