How to Train Your Dragon Book 7: How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm by Cressida Cowell

Rating: Highly Recommended, but Needs Parent Supervision, I like it BUT some families may not.

Reading Level: Late Elementary, Middle School

This book illustrates some fantastic Gospel principles, but needs parent supervision/discussion to pull out the themes. Here, when bad things happen, “the gods” weave a sweet tale where evil turns back on itself for good, and Hiccup gains a passion and mission to be a good leader.

• Viking mythology, mentions of Thor or “the gods”
• Fantasy. Dragons with magic & curses
• Name calling (“losers”, etc.)
• Slavery. Hiccup stumbles into a boat full of slaves. (He ends up freeing them.)
• Prophecy from a Soothsayer.
• “The gods have abandoned us.” A grandmother who has been captured tells her grandson there is no hope.
• Curses. The grandmother curses the ship she and her 100 kinsmen have been captured on.
• Breasts. “Big boobied Bertha” is mentioned a couple times, and her breasts are described as having emotions of their own, first joyously out and about, them later sagging.
• Potty/Body Humor. References to farts, bottoms, pooh.
• References to alcohol, beer, and sleep potion.

Overall, if you can get your kids to ignore the bad stuff, the spiritual parallels are boundless. God is an even better storyteller than Cressida; he weaves joy out of pain. Also, as Hiccup finds his vocation, so also your kid will find passion from their trials and context.

Check out my reviews of other books in the series.