The InComplete Book of Dragons by Cressida Cowell

Title: The InComplete Book of Dragons (How to Train Your Dragon)
Author: Cressida Cowell
Genre: Fantasy, Humour, Middle Grade
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books (12th June 2014)
Blurb:

Long ago, the world was full of dragons. This book is packed with dragon profiles, tips on how to ride and train them and, most importantly, how to deal with dragons if they attack.

These pages are taken from the notebooks of Viking Hero and Dragonwatcher, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third when he was just a boy . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS by Cressida Cowell is made up of the notes and journal entries of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. In it he details notes on the dragons he himself has encountered with helpful tips and tricks, and he also notes the dragons that he has had to rely on other vikings for the details of.

Quite honestly this book was an utter joy to read – I just couldn’t stop smiling. The illustrations are brilliantly done, and there is the real feel that the book is put together from a series of notebooks. The book itself is a thing of beauty – the cover is really shiny, and has some interesting textures – and a joy to hold. I really loved the pull-out map of ‘The Barbaric Achiprlago’. The Hiccup’s notations throughout the book were both thoughtful and often quite funny. I’m really glad that I picked this book up.

THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS is at its heart a picture book, though there are plenty of entries about the dragons as well as copious notations by Hiccup. Cowell illustrates the creatures described in the text and brings them to life on the page. There is a certain beauty to all the illustrations – whatever they are of. THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS covers plenty of ground for the budding dragonwatcher as it contains dragon profiles complete with illustrations and ratings, as well as tips on how to train them and much more.

If you are a fan of the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON series – whether of the books (or like me) of the films – then this is a must have book to add to your collection. I will definitely be checking out the book series after having read this, as if this book is anything to go by it will be fun.

To really show you the glory of this book I would love to have included some of the illustrations from it, but I don’t want to spoil anyone who wishes to read it. So instead I have included at the bottom of this review a picture of my copy of the book to try and show you how beautiful and shiny it is.

My copy of the book, which isn’t quite as shiny as real-life but it’s close.