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The Secret Rescuers #1

Magiczni przyjaciele Burzowy smok

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Sophy is a maid at the Royal castle in a magical kingdom. When a small dragon crash-lands in the orchard, not only can she understand it, but she knows she must return it to its family. A bad-hearted noble, Sir Fitzroy, wants to destroy all magical creatures in the kingdom and will stop at nothing to do so. Sophy must keep the little creature safe from him and his band of men, and pass on the magical challenge to other girls in other parts of the kingdom. She does this by flying to a new adventure on the back of Windrunner, a dragon who helps her after she returns the baby to its family, and finding another girl to help her with the second secret animal rescue!

Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

44 people are currently reading
325 people want to read

About the author

Paula Harrison

86 books116 followers

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5 stars
180 (47%)
4 stars
112 (29%)
3 stars
66 (17%)
2 stars
13 (3%)
1 star
6 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
15 reviews
April 24, 2022
Teda knížka absolutně úžasná! Naprosto mě oslovila a myslím, že má velký vliv na život dnešních teenagerů. Inspirativní hrdinka Sofie má půlku mého srdce, druhou půlku má Torny❤️. Velmi vtipné postřehy (Tom byl trochu otravný 😂😂), válela jsem se smíchem i v slzách. Naštěstí kniha dobře dopadla, ale napětí zde bylo dost.
Profile Image for eliska zarybnicka.
80 reviews
April 14, 2022
no lidickove, ja teda nevim...
celkem nup postavy a jmena wtf
pro mladsi kidiky asi dobry ale!
a celkem najs zakonceni!
Profile Image for Kaylee.
348 reviews34 followers
March 19, 2017
This is a very sweet and interesting story. Quite original too, I thought. However, there were a couple things that bugged me. First of all, it ended on a cliffhanger. A 112-page children's book should not end on a cliffhanger.

The other issue is that it's very unrealistic. The castle has one cook, a housekeeper, a little girl who is the only maid (who does pretty much everything), and a little boy who does all the gardening AND takes care of the stables all by himself. The only other people who live at the castle are the queen, one knight, and some guards. At one point the girl "climbed the fence into the field next door." Because castle grounds are apparently surrounded by little picket fences.

I know it's a children's book, so I am being more lenient in my rating, but I think we owe it to our children to treat them like the intelligent young people they are. It would have been very easy to include a sentence saying "Castles are very big, with many rooms to clean and many people to feed, so it takes a lot of servants to take care of such a huge place."

We don't have to meet any of the other servants, but don't make it sound like one little girl cleans the entire castle, does the laundry, has to carry a cartload of furniture outside, has to pick the apples in the orchard all by herself, and then even helps the cook! Even if you don't know that castles are huge, even if we were only talking about a regular house, that's too much work for one person, especially a child, and kids are gonna notice that.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
112 reviews
October 2, 2019
My girls LOVED this book and are excited to continue the series. I loved that it made them so excited to listen to a story that they wanted to do so anytime we had a free minute.
Profile Image for Harriet Bell.
20 reviews
November 15, 2023
I like this book because I like all the different mythical creatures. There are other books in this series that I’m working my way through.
250 reviews3 followers
April 12, 2017
Not appropriate for younger audience I'm selecting for.
Profile Image for Jessica Geil.
Author 1 book5 followers
December 21, 2023
This book was so cute! Sophy is such a kind-hearted girl, and I want to give Cloudy a great big hug! Such a darling read. 💖
610 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2021
Cute little story. Not super exciting to read as an adult, but my 6-year-0ld loved it. I thought it was annoying that the story sort of ends in a cliffhanger. It doesn't feel appropriate for a book for young children. But my daughter is looking forward to the rest of the series, as she loves magical creatures.
53 reviews
January 9, 2018
Absolutely adorable story. Perfect for our 4 year old daughter. She loved it.
13 reviews
July 20, 2020
That was one of my new year presents. I loved it! It has a cool medieval atmosphere, good drawings. It was fast and easy to read. I am so excited to continue with this serie. 🐲🏰💜
Profile Image for Salma.
39 reviews5 followers
August 7, 2020
I loved the storm dragon. I loved the bit where he wanted macaroni and cheese and he thought it was called macaroni sneeze!! It was so funny. Sophy is a maid and her parent has died. When many visitors came they told stories about magical animals and it is real. There are magic animals in their city. However, Sir Firzroy hates magical animals and wants to capture all magic animals. He thinks they are dangerous. Sir Firzroy dislikes magic creature because when he was young a unicorn poked him with their horn. From then on he hated creatures but Sophy thought the unicorn done that for a good reason. Sophy finds a speaking stone which means that she can speak to magical creatures. However, it only works for her. She can talk to them and also under stand them. Cloudy the dragon save Sophy by making it so windy that they think there is a magic spell. Guards know the dragon is here and all they do is search for it. Sophy manages to rescue him however, other magical animals are in terribe danger.

This was a very good book.
Profile Image for Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*.
6,025 reviews219 followers
July 13, 2017
Harrison, Paula The Storm Dragon (The Secret Rescuers #1), illustrated by Sophy Williams. Simon & Schuster, 2015. $5.99. Content: G.

As a maid in the castle, Sophy wishes for adventure. But when a baby dragon crash-lands near her, she knows all that is about to change. With the help of a magical stone, she communicates with Cloudy the storm dragon, and learns that he is hurt. But his broken wing isn't the only problem; Sir Fitzroy the knight is determined to lock up all magical creatures. Can Sophy heal Cloudy's wing and help him escape, or will they both be caught?

The premise of this book and the series as a whole are both good. Unfortunately, the plot and writing itself are unexceptional, and Sophy doesn't stand out as a unique protagonist.

EL (K-3) -- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...
Profile Image for Melanie.
17 reviews
January 9, 2021
Read this with my five year old, she loved it. I liked that it was a fun fantasy with no mention of school (we homeschool, I don't love books that center around a classroom) and the villian wasn't too over the top.

Also, the main girls (book 1 and 2 so far) are not princesses! The first is a servant at the castle, which brings up talks about what servants do for princesses. We talked about everything that they do (which is why the princess doesn't do laundry, or cook, etc), and about how different royalty might treat their servants. (How do you think Elsa and Anna treat their servants? How about this queen? - Which is okay, how would the servant feel, etc.)
Profile Image for Rubi.
2,667 reviews15 followers
October 15, 2023
Cute story about a baby dragon!

For a being such a small book, it bad beautiful story building! Sophy seems to live/work in a castle from another planet! One with magical creatures!
Unfortunately, her Queen and her knight seem to hate the magical creatures and so she helps hide a baby dragon who hurt himself near the castle.
I loved how the dragons in this story serve a purpose too! They literally bring rain and winds and help their kingdoms crops! It was so cool! Such a cute story! Can't wait to see how Sophy helps the Unicorns next 😍
Profile Image for Leslie.
124 reviews4 followers
August 18, 2017
A short, cute story about a young servant girl who rescues a baby dragon, which she can speak to through the possession of some magic stones. The first of a series, and as such, ends rather abruptly on a cliffhanger leading into he next adventure. Mild "danger" should not upset even a very young child. The soft black and white illustrations, while charming, were a surprise, after the bright colors of the jacket. On to Book Two!
Profile Image for Megan.
411 reviews11 followers
August 19, 2025
Emily read this first and then I finally did. Really liked it! The kid characters are scared but brave, resourceful, kind… good role models. I really like that Sophy learns she has a friend in the Cook; I hope that having a trustworthy adult as her friend is in future stories because the other adults mostly suck! The world is great, though where are Sophy’s parents? Overall, very enjoyable and I’ll borrow the rest of the series for Emily.
Profile Image for Harriet.
42 reviews1 follower
September 11, 2018
I really liked the baby dragon. I already read The Sky Unicorn and now I read the first one, and I really liked how they got to know each other (he got a broken wing and she wanted to help him). I liked there was the magic stones that she had and I hope to read the third book. It was one of my favorite ones yet.
Profile Image for Marie.
874 reviews8 followers
January 4, 2021
My 7-year-old son would give this five stars. It's a cute, high interest, early chapter book that will probably most appeal to K-2nd graders. I definitely recommend it for that age group.

This story is about a young orphaned castle maid, Sophie, who finds and protects and injured baby dragon from a mean knight who doesn't like magical creatures.
Profile Image for Subashini Surendran.
7 reviews
August 31, 2018
When Sophy finds the little lost dragon, she knows he is in danger. It will take all her courage to keep the dragon safe, and a little bit of magic too. But what if there are other creatures in danger? It looks like Sophy's going to need some friends to help her with her secret rescues.
Profile Image for Christine V.
150 reviews5 followers
August 14, 2020
Buddy read with my 7 year old.

This was a sweet little chapter book, perfect for K-2 independent readers. Set in a nondescript medieval land, the story centers around a young servant girl named Sophy who discovers a baby dragon. Good for fans of happy animal stories and magical creatures.
Profile Image for Joanna.
744 reviews54 followers
December 8, 2020
This series is a wonderful entry point into the world of fantasy for young children. Highly recommend. Lots of great language to learn from this book. It's simple and straightforward, but not overly dumbed down like so many books for this age group.
Profile Image for drowningmermaid.
1,011 reviews47 followers
October 4, 2022
A lot more went into the creation of this world than average for a chapter book.

But the story moves slowly, and the pacing is sluggish.

My 6-year-old adored the premise and we read it, even though this uses vocabulary that is beyond her.
303 reviews
March 13, 2024
1.5 stars.
This is the first book in the series but this is not the first I read, this is the third. Seems they are pretty much the same. Heroes run and hide. Villains fail to find them, villains scratch their heads, shrug and go home.

Wholesome like Magic Tree House. Unfortunately, just as boring. Granted, this series is written much better than Tree House and does not have the same monotonous tone.
Profile Image for Lisa.
120 reviews8 followers
April 6, 2018
Cute and adorable Children's read, with adventure and sweet friendship. Kids love it!
101 reviews1 follower
July 1, 2019
My daughter loved this book. The main character is Sophy, same as my daughter, which is loved. An amber eyed baby storm dragon who can talk thrilled her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews

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