Dragon Rider

Funke, Cornelia. Dragon Rider. Translated by Anthea Bell. Illustrated by Brendan Fraser. Random House/Listening Library, 2004. $40.00. ISBN 9781400090907.

Summary:

When humans threaten to expand into dragon country, the dragon Firedrake decides to search for the Rim of Heaven, a place of safety that only the oldest of dragons remembers hearing about. Sorrel, Firedrake’s brownie companion, goes along for the adventure, and Ben, a homeless human orphan, joins them. This party of travelers quickly learns that they are not the only ones seeking the Rim of Heaven, and that sinister elements are aware of their progress towards that goal. The pace of the story builds toward an action-filled conclusion and the cast of supernatural characters (dwarves, djinns, a homunculus, and a mapmaking rat, for example) will delight fans of fantasy. Listeners of all ages will appreciate this wild adventure, full of humor, plot twists, and unlikely heroes.

Curriculum Connections:

This book would make an excellent read-aloud in a classroom, even without Fraser’s reading. One way to connect it to curriculum is with mapmaking: Gilbert Graytail's map for the travelers includes many colorful areas to indicate regions of danger, safety, cultures, friends and foes. However, this information is only given orally, once, and there is no map key! Students could draw maps to scale of their school playground, or classroom. With shading, they could indicate various elements but have other students guess at what the shading indicates.

Personal Reflections:

This book comes alive through Fraser’s reading: he uses unique and memorable voices that augment the many characterizations from the text. This story is lighter than Funke's other works (like The Thief Lord and the Inkworld series for older readers), and has alternating chapters between various angles of the story. This technique creates suspense for the reader, as the action in the different story threads may be deferred for a chapter or so, while we hear about other elements and characters.

Awards:

Age/Interest Range:

6-12

Genre/Themes:

Adventure, Fantasy, Friendship

Read-Alikes:

Peter and the Starcatchers (Barry and Pearson) is a swashbuckling adventure with lots of action and suspense, with alternating chapters, like Dragon Rider. Peter and the Starcatchers, read by the talented Jim Dale, is another great listen.