How to Raise and Keep a Dragon
John Topsell (Joseph Nigg, "editor")
Barron's
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: You've read everything there is to read about dragons. Perhaps you've even attended a few local dragon shows. Now, you want to make the leap from dragon lover to dragon keeper. But, like any animal, there's much more to owning a dragon than simply admiring them, and even the bred-down miniature dragons need special care above and beyond a simple cat or dog. What kind of housing do they need? Would you be better suited to a Standard Western Dragon, a Dragon of India, a Sea Dragon, or something even more exotic, like a Multiheaded Dragon, Salamander, or Piasa? How do you train a dragon? Topsell answers all these questions and more in this all-inclusive dragon care guide.
REVIEW: In the wake of Dragonology's phenomenal success, a host of fantastic "field guides" and similar books have cropped up. This one, too, uses pictures and a guidebook/scrapbook format to present dragon information, but it manages to stand apart by crossing the fantastic field guide genre with a pet care manual format. Topsell (or Nigg) also includes information on many more varieties of dragons than other young adult "dragon guide" books, which is fitting: Joseph Nigg has written many scholarly books on the origins of fantastic creatures. It lost a point for illustration quality and a rushed, slightly dumbed-down or glossed-over feel to some of the dragon descriptions, which contradict information Nigg himself offers in other books. I also thought the bibliography, which mixes real-world books with fictional works, lacked clarification and depth. On the whole, if you love dragons, you'll probably want this one in your library... and in all honesty, who else but a dragon lover would even pick up this book?
You might also enjoy:
Tales of Great Dragons (J. K. Anderson, YA Nonfiction - A good introduction to the world of dragons)
The Book of Dragons (Ciruelo, Fiction - Dragon lore and illustrations)
Dancing with Dragons (D. J. Conway, Nonfiction - How to summon and use dragons for magickal purposes and spiritual enlightenment)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - A boy buys a dragon's egg in a magic shop)
Dragonlore (Ash "LeopardDancer" DeKirk, Nonfiction - Myths and traditions ancient and modern about dragons and their kin)
The Flight of Dragons (Peter Dickinson, Fiction - A speculative look at how a hypothetical, biologically plausible dragon might live)
Dragonsdale (Salamanda Drake, YA Fiction - At a riding stable for dragons, the owner's daughter is forbidden to fly)
The Book of Fabulous Beasts (Joseph Nigg, Nonfiction - The classical origins and evolution of many fabulous beasts, including dragons)
Dragons - Truth, Myth, and Legend (David Passes, YA Nonfiction - Dragon lore and myths)
Dragons: A Natural History (Dr. Karl Shuker, Nonfiction - Dragon myths from around the world)
Dragonology books (Dugald A. Steer "editor", YA Fiction - A 19th century "dragonologist" discusses the dragons of the world)
Dragon Keeper (Carole Wilkinson, YA Fiction - In ancient China, a servant girl finds herself protecting the last of the Emperor's dragons)
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm (Tad Williams and Deborah Beale, YA Fiction - Two children discover a magical secret at their great-uncle's farm)
The Pit Dragon Chronicles (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - On the planet Austar IV, a slave boy steals a hatchling dragon from his master)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Return to Brightdreamer Books Home
Brightdreamer Books is created and maintained by TBW, a.k.a. "Brightdreamer."
E-mail: tbweber AT comcast DOT net. (Remove spaces, replace AT with "@" and DOT with "." - please put "Brightdreamer Books" in the subject line, or your e-mail may be deleted as
spam! Thank you!