Digory the Dragon Slayer

by Angela McAllister, Ian Beck

Nothing much ever happens to Digory during his walks through the forest. He mostly plays his lute and writes beautiful songs to sing. But one day, he finds a dragon's tooth and his village assumes he's slayed a dragon! They immediately make him a knight and send him off in search of other dragons to slay. Will Digory be able to face a snarling dragon but live to be an ordinary boy again?

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Angela McAllister is an award- winning author of over eighty books for children, including picture books, junior fiction, non-fiction and novels. Her work has been adapted for the stage and is widely used in schools. It has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in the south of England.

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randomly pulled this off the shelf at the library for a road trip read aloud, and it worked well for boys ages 4 and almost 7 (usually difficult to have both listen to the same story). A simple enough plot that I could verbally recap each time we picked it up, and there was enough silliness and fun-to-say words that made it entertaining as a read-aloud.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. fiction, children's fiction, grade 2

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone-tickler. Goes where no Slayer has been before. Black squiggles outline sausage-nose Digory, hedgehog-hair Princess Enid, scary Dragon belching fire. One big gulp mixes up a winner.

[Deidra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Angela McAllister, illustrated by Ian Beck. Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, copyright 2005.

Grade level: 2nd

Digory is a young boy from "the days of old" who likes to be in the forest and play songs on his lute. One day, he finds a Dragon tooth and is mistakenly taken for a dragon slayer. He immediately is thrown into an adventure after being made a knight whose mission is to slay dragons, and rescue damsels in distress.

This was a fun book that I can see little boys and even young girls enjoying. It is filled with adventure and even some laughter along the way.

Possible themes or units: Dragons, princesses, chivalry, knights of the round table

[Kate Hastings · Rating 3 out of 5]

RL890. This fluffy, low-calorie book reminds me of the folklore town of Chelm. A silly-dilly boy becomes a dragon slayer after finding a giant tooth and the gossip mill's interpretation. He is them forced to go on a quest where he encounters another kingdom full of equally silly people, including a princess with a grown-out buzz cut and a king who can't remember anything.

This book won't be memorable, but for kids looking for a dragon book-- they will enjoy this.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with my son at beginning of 3rd grade. It was the first book we read together using the Kindle. We took turns reading, and he would continue to read instead of wait for me if another sibling needed help. He really liked the book and wants to read the next one. It was great to see him get so excited about a book that he didn't want to put it down. While it wasn't my favorite book, it sure captured his imagination.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a book parade book last year and I liked it. I didn't love it, but it was okay. More like a littler kid book than a 5th grade book.

[Prangmeg0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is about a boy that finds a dragons tooth in the woods. people think he slayed a dragon and they make him a knight. now he has to slay a real live dragon!!!!!!! this is a fun book to read.

[Micherac0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like it, it was about a boy who finds a tooth and becomes a knightand meets this princess and goes to slay a dragon but he cant so he gets eatn and his horse saves the day