The Dragonslayers

by Bruce Coville, Katherine Coville

To get revenge on King Mildred, Grizelda creates the fiercest dragon the kingdom has ever seen.  He is such a terror that he must be killed. Now if only the dragonslayers could stop arguing long enough to face the greatest battle of all!

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Juvenile, Adventure

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jaimes_Mystical_Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun middle grade chapter book! This one had a cute story and I liked the cast of characters in this book. I loved the illustrations sprinkled throughout this book as well. Overall this was a great kid’s fantasy read that I think a lot of middle graders will enjoy.

Thank you to Simon Kids for the gifted copy.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute delight. So many tropes from classic fantasy, so it serves as an intro, if you will... but so much more, too. I would have loved it to pieces when I was a young girl. I don't want to say more, but rather I want you to discover all the wonderful characterizations, twists, asides, philosophical observations, etc., yourself. Would be especially wonderful if shared as a family or classroom read-aloud.
---
Second read -
Not quite as delighted this time. Mostly, probably, because I didn't mean to reread it, it's just that I didn't recognize the cover at all. The small dragon, the 'tomboy' with a bosom, the cowering older man, the emphasis on melodramatic adventure... none of that is accurate. Young me could not stand bad covers, and adult me has very little patience for them either. The interior illustrations, though, do charm. Still, four stars because I do remember how much I loved it the first time.

[Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading this to my six year old daughter. She quite enjoyed it. At first I was just reading it before bedtime, but she started asking me to read it during the day on weekends. It was my first time reading a chapter book to her and it was a great experience!

I read/listened to this book countless times as a child. There was an audiobook version at the library that my brother and I would listen to over and over again. Even 25+ years later, there were times when I was reading out loud where I could hear the "Words Take Wing Productions" full cast audio playing in my head. The only thing that would make it better is if I could find the full cast soundtrack from the theater adaptation (written by the author) that was included on Side B of the last tape! This probably deserves less stars, but I have too much nostalgia to be objective-- four stars it is!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dragonslayers is a children's chapter book and probably isn't going to be a very worthwhile read to anyone any older, but this was my absolute *favorite* book as a child. Even today I'm not much of a book re-reader, but when I was in elementary school I probably read this book close to 10 times over. If you have a young child that likes to read but isn't ready for YA novels, or one that you want to get into reading, I highly recommend trying to pick this book up for them.
I'm so glad to have finally found this book (after looking through over 300 books in the Fantasy>Dragons category here on Good Reads) as I've spent years now trying to remember the title... All I could remember was that it was "Dragon-(something)" and came from our school's Scholastic Book Club. Thanks, Good Reads for helping me finally reconnect with my childhood nostalgia!

[November Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took 7 weeks but I finally finished a book this year 💪😤 anyway, I found 2 Bruce Covilles at the local used book shop and bought them since I was obsessed w him as a kid. And this holds up pretty well considering it's almost 30 years old! It was originally started as a musical play for 4th graders and it would definitely make for a good production. I enjoyed this and more importantly, I found it so easy to read after almost 2 months of not being able to read at all.

3.5 stars rounded up for nostalgia

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books as a young child. It was one of the books I started to read for harder reading instead of Junie B. Jones. I just loved it! I still love it now!

[The Docta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a much better play than it was a book.

[Cristy (Quinnbook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a breath of fresh air. It might’ve been a short book, but the story had so much heart and soul. Right off the bat, we meet our antagonist Grizelda the evil witch who is determined to create a dragon of amazing proportions. When King Mildred finds out he enlists some of the bravest knights of his kingdom.

Unfortunately he doesn’t surround himself with many brave knights so out of nowhere we meet a young squire and with the help of an old knight they’ll try to destroy the dragon. At the same time we meet the kings daughter Millie, who is determined to win her freedom of royalty duties that she’ll do the unexpected. I was so excited to start this book, and so sad when I finished it. The author captured such a fun and fast paced story and the illustrations made the story even more special.

[Jonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dragonslayers is a book by Bruce Coville about a group of heroes who must slay a dragon to save their kingdom. The heroes are not what you would expect, an old knight, a young boy, talking animals, and a princess who doesn’t want to get married. The witch who created the dragon wants revenge, but in the end, no one really gets what they expect. I thought the book was pretty good, it had some exciting parts, the main characters had important decisions to make. I figured out he twist to the book before it was revealed so it was not a surprise. I would recommend the book if you like fantasy stories, since it has lots of magical elements. If you don’t like fantasy you should probably skip it.

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel features a princess who longs to be a knight; a page boy who longs to slay a dragon; a witch who longs for revenge against a king; a king who longs to marry off his willful daughter; and a cast of other stereotypical characters--bumbling knights, timid maids-in-waiting, talking animals ...
Even so, if you like this sort of thing, the book is good for a brief spin in the land of make-believe.

[Mellissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Coville was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I read this one with my 6 year old and it was perfect for her, but not my favorite of Coville's books. This one is about a princess who is not about to be married off to whoever manages to kill a dragon, a witch who is looking for revenge, and an orphan who is trying to make a place for himself. Very simple plot, short chapters, lots of pictures - great for a beginning reader.

[Umair Sial · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn’t offer as much excitement as I would've liked for a Bruce Coville book. It's your average book that has all the bones of a great story but due to length and target audience (ages 8-12), it is left to be a basic story. The author begins it well but the ending is just and ending and nothing more. Happy ending that wraps the book up.

[Sean Mckittrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I read many times as a kid when it first came out (1994) the same faded book lies in my bookshelf and it will be read to my kid.

All I can say is as a kid who was 6 to 7 years old I loved this book, I read it over and over again. As an adult, it is of course not up to par, but then again, it wasn't made for adults.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cliche princess wanting to be a knight, old useless knight, young useless squire, magic elves with forest power, witch seeking revenge, etc. But fun and light and perfect for the 8-10 range to introduce those tropes.

[M]

I read this book multiple times when I was in elementary school and I tried to hunt it down for years after because I couldn't remember the title. When I finally found it, I was thrilled. I'm looking forward to rereading it

[Larry Wegman · Rating 2 out of 5]

YA novel sticking people with modern attitudes into a standard medieval fantasy situation. So-so.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Coville story, but it was still enjoyable. This one kind of seemed like it had been partially inspired by some Ruth Chew.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Coville is a great children's author! I read this when I was a teen, and again recently. I'm glad I kept my copy.

[Allyson Pulido]

such fun! We read this to our 7 year old and 3 year old and they were both engaged through the whole thing. I have loved Bruce Coville's books since I was a kid and love passing the tradition on!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first chapter book I read to my oldest. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Moon Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a 36 year old lady I am not the target audience for this book but I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Great character development.

[Carol Stirling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ather

[Nader Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun characters and a simple story, but it can attract you through its events, and with some surprises in the story that I did not expect, I can say that I liked it

Verdict: (7.5/10)

[Kaitlin Lafavour · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great little book to read with my 3rd grader. It had humor, action, and adventure.

[Talia Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely enjoyed this one!! I was able to escape into a whole new world and could imagine the story wonderfully… great and fast read!!

[Tor Domay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly delightful adventure about characters proving they're more than people's assumptions. It's also nice to have just a plain old-fashioned story about slaying a dragon.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick read. It's a race to see who can find the dragon first, and what they can do about it!

[Kressel Housman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son picked this out for the title, and it turned out to be quite a find! Bruce Coville is great for parents who love Harry Potter, but whose kids are a little too young for it. Now perhaps fantasy is fantasy, and there's only so much folklore to draw from, but the book seemed reminiscent of Harry Potter to me, even though it did take place in a sort of medieval kingdom-type setting. The "surprise" plot twists were no surprise at all, even to my kids, but great humor & adventure and really likable characters.

I've got all boys, but if I had daughters, I'd probably be more hesitant about this book. The character Princess Wilhemina, who'd rather be a dragonslaying knight, is a bit over the top with her feminist message. I agree that girls should be more than just "decorative," but most girls aren't living the lives of princesses, and I wouldn't want my daughters to think that there's something inherently negative about domesticity.

[Aranrúth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grizelda was not always a witch, but becomes one to take revenge on King Mildred for the loss of her family by making a dragon out of a newt to destroy the king’s family the way hers was. Having been at peace for many years, none of the kingdom’s knights know how to defeat a dragon and are afraid to try. The task of slaying the dragon to protect the kingdom comes down to the world’s oldest squire, an overeager page and a wilful princess, but first they must cooperate with each other.
This is a short easy read, good for younger readers first getting into fantasy stories. It should appeal to both boys and girls with its main plot to slay a dragon and the princess Willie, who is no damsel in distress and would rather be the one doing the rescuing.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable! The Dragonslayers is your typical fantasy that we’ve all heard of before, and loudly tells it again in its best clichéd glory... AND IT'S AWESOME! Seriously, Coville uses nearly every fantasy trope and makes them sparkle like diamonds. He’s amazing! I cannot bring myself to NOT like this story because it's told in such an incredibly fun and cute way, right from the characters to the silly plot. There’s no way I can give The Dragonslayers any justice by simply telling you about it... otherwise I'll probably make it sound like poo. :'O

Do check it out sometime.~ It truly is an adorable piece of art!