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1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
May 8, 2007 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780739350997
- File size: 168235 KB
- Duration: 05:50:29
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.7
- Lexile® Measure: 900
- Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
- Text Difficulty: 4-5
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Reviews
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DRAGONSDALE has everything a young reader could hope for--a heroine, Cara, who is the daughter of a dragonmaster; a wild and unruly dragon; girlfriends; and even an enemy, the daughter of the High Lord. Cara spends her days helping her friends groom and clean up after their dragons, while she is barred from riding dragons herself by her overprotective father. As her friends prepare for the riding championship, she must sit back--and scheme. Jill Schilling's voice suitably represents the haughty and smug Hortense, the angelic Cara, and the ridiculous High Lord himself. With a good mix of fantasy, as well as likable and despicable characters, author and narrator have put together a unique story. H.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine -
May 21, 2007
Fantasy-minded girls with a love for horses will likely take to this story, first in a planned series, which uses the structure and tone of a horse-training tale but features dragons instead. Cara is the daughter of Huw the Dragonmaster, leader of the training farm called Dragonsdale. She has a deep love for dragons in general, and for the “untamable” Skydancer in particular—but her father has forbidden her ever to ride one since her mother died in a riding accident. The arrogant and lazy Hortense, daughter of wealthy Lord Torin, is trying to learn to ride, but her attitude prevents her from bonding with any dragons. When Cara catches Hortense beating her dragon after losing a competition, she blackens her eye, earning the ire of both her father and Lord Torin. To smooth the ruffled feathers of his valued customer, Huw offers Hortense her choice of dragons to take for her own—and, of course, she chooses Skydancer to spite Cara. That ends badly too, and Cara ends up rescuing Skydancer (and flying him in the process). Large portions of the book are devoted to the workaday stable duties at a “dragon farm” and to the day of the big competition—it is in both of these sections that the similarities to horse fiction are particularly strong. But the element of the fantastic, a nifty die-cut cover and Marklew's exuberant pencil illustrations should endear this book to girls who dream of riding great, beautiful creatures—of one sort or another. Ages 9-12. -
December 1, 2007
Gr 2-5-Caras father is dragonmaster of Dragonsdale, a riding stable and school where the steeds are dragons rather than horse in this fantasy by Slamanda Drake (Chicken House, 2007). Cara longs to ride Sky Dancer, but her father wont allow her to ride any dragon because her mother was thrown from a dragon and killed. Even though he is wild, Cara is convinced that she would be successful because of the bond of trust between them. When Hortense, the local lords haughty daughter, decides that she wants to own Sky Dancer, the tension mounts and comes to a head at the dragon riding championship. Jill Shilling reads clearly, with an identifiable and consistent voice for each character. Listeners will not have a problem with her British accent and the occasional Briticisms. Youngsters who enjoy horse stories will be enthusiastic and eagerly await a sequel.Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture School, New York, NYCopyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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