Just before the last set of school holidays began I took my two kidlets to see How to Train your Dragon on the big screen. It was the first time either of them had ever been to the movies and it was a roaring success. They were fixated for at least 45 minutes on the massive images in front of them before I had to reside to food bribery. The movie was adorable and if you haven't had a chance to see it here is a quick clip from YouTube.
So it pains me to say this, it really does, but... I liked the movie better than the book.
Phew, that was a hard confession to make, especially as one of the worlds biggest book lovers.
Perhaps if I had read the book first and thought they were fantastic I would be feeling rather differently around about now, but I truly found the book lacking.
The storyline in the movie is COMPLETELY different to the book. Did I emphasize, the completely enough? In fact the only common threads were the vikings, the dragons (even Toothless was a different kind of dragon to the one in the book), and the name Hiccup. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought they were the same story at all.
Now, don't get me wrong, the book is O.K. Just not what I was expecting and the movie has probably renewed interest in these books but don't get them for your kids thinking that they will relate it to the movie, because it is sooooo different.
I would think they would suit 7 years +, and perhaps particularly boys, because girls don't even really rate a mention in the story at all so there may not be a character they can relate to.
I do intend to read another book in the series (although I am in no hurry now) as the idea is good, but lets put it this way. I wouldn't race out to buy one for the kids bookshelf.
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