The Dragon Whisperer by Lucinda Hare

The Dragon Whisperer by Lucinda Hare

Amanda Craig The Sunday Times One of the most captivating new books to be published for 8+ for some time . . . It made me laugh, cry and remember exactly what's so special about the time when you or your child live in hope of finding a dragon of your ownShortlisted 2010 Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books Silver Medal Winner 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards The Bookbag I thought this was an absolutely gorgeous little book. It's charming but exciting too, and while I think it will find its most loyal audience amongst tween girls there's also plenty to appeal to boys and older teens.Thoroughly enjoyable and beautifully written dragon fantasy with a good conflict between disparate protagonists. Plenty of appeal for a wide range of readers. Fantasy Book Review A Battledragon of a Book for all ages Reading Lucinda Hare's debut novel The Dragon Whisperer is like riding a dragon. You have to hold on tight during the twist and turns, take time to stop and enjoy the breathtaking view, prepare yourself for the sudden lows, enjoy the soaring heights and make sure you're not on the wrong end of that fiery breath A tale hatched from Hare's real-life experiences and devotion to all kinds of animals, The Dragon Whisperer follows Earl's daughter (and dragon whisperer), eleven year old Quenelda. Her best friend is a battle-dragon with the comically cautionary name of Two Gulps and You're Gone, who she can command through thought alone. Hare offers a headstrong heroine in Quenelda that chooses dragons over dresses, battles over boys and ultimately dreams of joining her father's side as a warrior in the Stealth Dragon Services.

Don't be fooled though... just because Hare has chosen a young girl as her protagonist doesn't mean she has written a book solely for that gender. Yes, the tale flies in the face of books such as Harry Potter and Artimis Fowl that have strong male protagonists, but The Dragon Whisperer contains enough dark magic, fierce battle dragons, and slimy hobgoblins to appeal to young boys.

Regardless of gender, readers will root for the underdog (a young gnome named Root) and wish they had their very own dragon. On the surface, Hare describes the relationship been Quenelda and Two Gulps like that between horse and rider, but the dragons are given such a depth of history and behaviours, that after the book is shut, the reader half expects to see these beasts lurking in local paddocks.

The one letdown of Hare's work, is that, in marketing it towards children, adults might see it as 'just another children's book' and pass it over. The back cover boasts a '9+' age rating and I urge anyone nine or over to snap this read up. Verdict? A battle-dragon of a book Available from Gardners Books

Lucinda was born in Edinburgh and spent her childhood in rural East Lothian, where she spent much of her time roaming the beaches and woods, watching deer, pheasants, geese and rabbits, and listening to the bark of the seals float down the Firth of Forth on the evening breeze. It was then that her lifelong passions for animals - from earwigs to elephants - history, reading and drawing began. She spent years daydreaming about the Roman legions, medieval knights and the American west. Rather than write about the dreams and stories in her head, she drew them purely from her imagination. She is hopeless at drawing anything real in front of her. When she was eleven she was introduced to The Lord of the Rings which combined her own passions for history, legend and fantasy. Still her favourite book, she was thrilled with Peter Jackson's recent Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. After reading history at university she went on to pursue a busy and diverse career in many different companies and organisations, ranging from the Argus Newspaper Group in Cape Town, to the Scottish Post Office, and Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities. After marrying Paul in 1999, Lucinda was able to return to those childhood passions, and very soon their house in Lasswade filled up with ever more rescued animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and ex-battery hens), books, and pastel and watercolour drawings and illustrations covered in dirty paw marks - the cats do always like to help out! This led to Paul's suggestion that she should try putting pen to paper - or rather, given Lucinda's chaotic writing style, get a laptop and start writing. The result was a rapid explosion of ideas and the start of The Dragonsdome Chronicles. It should be no surprise, then, that the characters at the heart of Dragon Lords Rising and the earlier books in the series - apart from sorcerers, gnomes and dwarfs - are in fact dragons; dragons with their own language and character, from the teasing Chasing the Stars to those with serious attitude like the battledragon Two Gulps & You're Gone. The dragons owe the inspiration for their names to Native American culture, and their characters draw on some of the family pets.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780957471887
ISBN 10	0957471882
Title	The Dragon Whisperer
Author	Lucinda Hare
Series	The Dragonsdome Chronicles
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Thistleburr Publishing
Year published	2018-05-01
Number of pages	298
Prizes	Winner of Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Silver Medal Best Book Series 2013, Runner-up for Shortlisted Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books 2010
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.