# Recommend some dragon-themed fantasy books for my daughter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223 "2005-10-14T15:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/21 "2005-10-14T18:50:03Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I’ll second the Anne McCaffrey recommendation… start with the harper hall books which are arguably the most kid-friendly, and then possibly branch out into some of the others. Third. The Harper Hall books absolutely captivated me at a similar age. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/22 "2005-10-14T19:22:28Z")
Peter Dickinson’s _The Flight of Dragons_ is the standard primer for children wishing to learn the basics of dragon biology. It is all here, how dragons fly, where they live, their diet and so on. Frankly, I was shocked to see Amazon does not stock it directly, but you can get at their site through a vendor. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/23 "2005-10-14T19:32:35Z")
This is a blind recommendation, because I haven’t read the book, but Maryjanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi’s _Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace_ might be a good fit. The protagonist is a teenage girl who finds herself becoming a dragon. I’ve read Alongi articles (he writes about Magic the Gathering) for several years and can vouch for him as a talented and fun to read writer. Davidson is his wife, and is apparently an even more accomplished author on his own. At some point, I read the first chapter online. It looked cute and fun. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/24 "2005-10-14T19:34:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Peter Dickinson’s The Flight of Dragons is the standard primer for children wishing to learn the basics of dragon biology. It is all here, how dragons fly, where they live, their diet and so on. > > Frankly, I was shocked to see Amazon does not stock it directly, but you can get at their site through a vendor. See my post #9 above. I think this cartoon (you _do_ mean the cartoon, right?) is based on SF/Fantasy writer Gordon R. Dickson’s books. I note that they called the hero “Peter Dickenson” in the cartoon. > **[The Flight of Dragons (Video 1982) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083951/)** > > The Flight of Dragons: Directed by Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.. With Victor Buono, James Gregory, James Earl Jones, Harry Morgan. A young Boston writer goes back in time into an era where wizards and dragon reign and science is just barely known. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/25 "2005-10-14T19:36:00Z")
Just looked more closely at the IMDB entry. There really _is_ a Peter Dickenson. I thought they were just screwing with Gordon Dickson’s name. (I’d read the book long before the film came out) ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/26 "2005-10-14T19:50:15Z")
E. Nesbit’s _Book of Dragons_, which is still a crowd pleaser after 100+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/27 "2005-10-14T20:19:25Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > There’s also her [Dragonriders of Pern](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345340248/qid=1129303895/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-8615115-5337715?v=glance&s=books) trilogy, at a slightly higher reading level, though it’s arguably science fiction rather than fantasy. Yeah, I’ve read 'em all. I got the impression the kid we’re talking about is a young teen, or even younger. Seems to me that the full-on Dragonrider series is more suited for older kids. At least, it didn’t do much for me until I was a sophomore or so. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/28 "2005-10-14T20:19:54Z")
Peter Dickinson is, interestingly enough, Robin McKinley’s husband. I second _The Hero and the Crown_, although I like _The Blue Sword better_. Unfortunately, it lacks dragons. _The Neverending Story_. Falkor the luckdragon is one of the greatest dragons ever. It’s also a fantastic dark fairy tale. Some of Le Guin’s _Earthsea_ novels have dragons in them. I didn’t know that Paolini was so derivative. I’ll take him off my reading list. The _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ trilogy by Tad Williams mostly indirectly deals with dragons. It’s a really good series, and probably my favourite sort of Tolkien-esque fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/29 "2005-10-14T20:22:17Z")
Eeep. Sorry. _MS&T_ is the same trilogy **Miller** suggested. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/30 "2005-10-14T20:25:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Just looked more closely at the IMDB entry. There really _is_ a Peter Dickenson. I thought they were just screwing with Gordon Dickson’s name. (I’d read the book long before the film came out) Funny, I’d read the Peter Dickinson book years before the movie came out. It wasn’t until many years later that I started reading this book by a guy named Gordon Dickson, and thought, “Jeez, this plot sounds familiar…” Both excellent dragon books, btw. Gordon Dickson’s is called _The Dragon and the George._ There’s a sequel, but I don’t recall what it was called, or much of the plot. And just to clear up any confusion, _The Dragonbone Chair_ is the first book of the _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ trilogy. The other books are _The Stone of Farewell_ and _To Green Angel Tower_. The later book was split into two volumes for the paperback. Awesome stuff. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/31 "2005-10-14T20:26:37Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Yeah, I’ve read 'em all. I got the impression the kid we’re talking about is a young teen, or even younger. Seems to me that the full-on Dragonrider series is more suited for older kids. At least, it didn’t do much for me until I was a sophomore or so. The tone changes in the series. The first two or three are more adult than the later ones. That said, I read my dad’s copies in sixth grade so I don’t think they’re all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/32 "2005-10-14T20:31:06Z")
I presume that you know that there are a few dragons in the Harry Potter books? Though they’re unintelligent beasts, not exactly “characters”, and the story doesn’t exactly focus on them. One of the Narnia books has a boy turning into a dragon, but it’s not regarded as a good thing. It’s also a few books into the series, so there’d be two non-dragon books before she got to that part (mind you, I think they’re very good books, they just don’t have dragons). ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/33 "2005-10-14T20:34:29Z")
Thanks, all. I had a hunch I’d get something good from you guys, and I have. It’s all captured and spreadsheet-ized. Off to the library! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/34 "2005-10-15T05:21:57Z")
You could also check out _Dragon Companion_ and its sequels, by Don Callander. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/35 "2005-10-15T12:17:25Z")
Another vote for Ursula Le Guin’s **Earthsea** trilogy, especially **A Wizard Of Earthsea** and **The Farthest Shore** : some excellent ancient and wise talking dragons, although be warned that violence does feature: these aren’t Disney dragons. Later additions to the series, **Tehanu** and another one whose name I forget also feature dragons - and people turning into dragons - but they’re a much later and weaker addition to the series, and perhaps a little too mature for the younger reader: A young girl is raped, thrown into a fire, hideously scarred, shunned by all, and becomes a dragon. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/36 "2005-10-15T12:36:33Z")
[Dragonology](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763623296/103-0306258-0353455?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance) Ernest Drake, Dugald Steer. [The Flight of Dragons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060110740/103-0306258-0353455?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) by Peter Dickinson. (There is an animated movie based on this book which is cool, it plays on Disney every so often. I’ve only seen the movie, but one day I will own the book too.) > [@reveiwer Marc Ruby "The Noh Hare™"](#): > > Peter Dickinson’s classic book on such imponderables as how (and why) dragons fly is one of my favorite books on the care and feeding of our scaled neighbors. He goes into great detail about what it takes to get a 20,000-pound appetite up into the air and speeding to its next meal. Sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek, Dickinson draws on legend and story to create a delightful theory that takes the imaginary and makes it real. I second the Enchanted Forest chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. [Dealing With Dragons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/015204566X/103-0306258-0353455?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) is hilarious! **Case Sensitive** I disagree, I think Tehanu is a good book. Have you even read The Other Wind yet? That also is a good book, and it’s chock full of dragons. It’s the closing of the circle. Yeah, the fact that magic is dying out and may cease to exist is a bit hard to take at first, but see the story through and you’ll see it works out. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/37 "2005-10-15T17:14:10Z")
When she gets a bit older, there’s RA MacEvoy’s brilliant **[Tea with the Black Dragon](http://tinyurl.com/cjsy2)**. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/38 "2005-10-15T21:00:44Z")
In addition to the Pern books and the Elvenblood books, I would add the new trilogy by Mercedes Lackey with _Joust_, _Alta_, and _Sanctuary_. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/39 "2005-10-15T22:55:08Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I’m not sure how age appropriate it would be (its been years since I read the series), but tehre was a good series by Melanie Rawn that I remember enjoying a lot…and dragons are certainly a central theme. The series IIRC was something like Dragon Star trilogy (I remember only one book title, Stronghold). I remember reading them when they first came out and thinking that they were quite good. > > I also second Anne McCaffrey…the Pern novels would probably be perfect. > > -XT Rawn’s books are good, but are they good for a younger teen? There’s some harsh stuff in that first series, including burning people alive (more than one such instance). McKinnley’s an amazing author, and the Harper’s Hold books of Pern (McCaffery) are great for a younger teen. Or younger, even. I read them in 3rd grade. And then I promptly went to get the rest, and the librarian tried to prevent me. She thought they were too much for a person that age. Bah! I loved and still love McCaffery. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/40 "2005-10-16T01:42:06Z")
> [@BlueKangaroo](#): > > Rawn’s books are good, but are they good for a younger teen? There’s some harsh stuff in that first series, including burning people alive (more than one such instance). I haven’t read Rawn, but I have read all of the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter certainly has both torture and death in them, and not all the deaths are that clean. I have a 14yo daughter who has been reading “teen fiction” since she was about 10. Some of the stuff they sell as “teen fiction” would have given me nightmares when I was that age–Tamora Pierce and Garth Nix in particular. Even Jacques’ Redwall series is pretty violent at times. I have tried to read most of those books, if only so that I could help explain things she didn’t understand, but our tastes aren’t that similar. I loathed Brian Jacques, and was quite happy when she decided she had outgrown it. Now, though, I like Tamora Pierce more than she does, and I quite enjoyed Pullman’s Amber Spyglass, etc. series, which she hated. The OP didn’t give an age–just a reading level–so it’s hard to determine what “age-appropriate” might be here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223.md?page=3)