Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

Summary


A dragon. A boy. A journey.

Firedrake, a brave young dragon, his loyal brownie friend Sorrel and a lonely boy called Ben are united as if by destiny. Together, they embark on a magical journey to find the legendary place where silver dragons can live in peace for ever. With only a curious map and the whispered memories of an old dragon to guide them, they fly across moonlit lands and seas to reach the highest mountains in the world.

Along the way, they discover extraordinary new friends in unlikely places and a courage they never knew they had. Just as well, for the greatest enemy of all is never far behind them – a heartless monster from the past who’s been waiting a very long time to destroy the last dragons on earth.

My Thoughts

This book has been kicking around our place since I bought it for Madeleine years ago before Nick died. I remember that all the teachers at her school were reading it to their classes and kids were in love with the story but for some reason I just never seemed to get around to reading it. (Unusual for me as I read everything that hasn`t been nailed down and even some books that are)
Fantasy has been enjoying a resurgence in recent years since the popularity of Harry Potter but Harry Potter can sometimes be too sophisticated for some younger children particularly the latter novels...so there was a hole to be filled.
This book fills that space perfectly. The story is full of charming characters that have you cheering plus the villain is scary enough to thrill older children but not too scary for the younger ones. The journey takes you to interesting places in the world and introduces you to some different cultures plus a few imaginary ones.
This story is a classic adventure story pitting the good against the evil with the usual results but some parts of it are quite original.
I enjoyed it and give it a 3.5 stars out of 5