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Format

Paperback
384 pages

Author

Cressida Cowell
More books by Cressida Cowell

Author's Website

www.cressidacowell.co.uk/

Publisher

Hodder Children's Books an imprint of Hachette Children's Books

Suitable for Ages

Featured Books for 9+ readers
Books of the Month - May

Publication date

6th October 2011

ISBN

9781444900941

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How to Steal a Dragon's Sword

Cressida Cowell
Part of the 'Hiccup' Series

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Julia Eccleshare's comment:

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is back for a rollicking new adventure. A Viking with a difference, Hiccup is a great swordsman and dragon whisperer but this time he’s got a dragon rebellion on his hands as well as trying to stop Alvin becoming the next King of the Wilderwest. It’s a lot for anyone to tackle and how this hilarious and delightful character achieves all he must is a delight. Hiccup’s previous adventures set the scene for this surprising and hilarious escapade in a glorious fantasy Viking world.

Click here for all the info on the How to Train Your Dragon website including National Dragonese Day (6th October 2011).

Who is Julia Eccleshare ?

Synopsis

The story continues in the ninth volume of Hiccup's How to Train Your Dragon memoirs (click here to see the series), Cressida Cowell's first new book in two years. Bad times have come to the Archipelago. Ever since the woods of Berserk burned down, it is almost as if the world is cursed. Dragons are starting to revolt against their Masters. The waters have risen, flooding fields and washing whole villages away. But worse still, the wicked witch Excellinor has returned. Can Hiccup find the King's Things and win the sword-fighting contest to stop Alvin the Treacherous from becoming King of the Wilderwest?

'How to Train Your Dragon' is a DreamWorks film starring Gerrard Butler, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill, out on DVD, adapted from the best selling How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell. Read the rest of Hiccup's exploits in How to Train Your Dragon, How to Be a Pirate, How to Speak Dragonese, How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, How to Twist a Dragon's Tale, A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons, How to Ride a Dragon's Storm and How to Break a Dragon's Heart. Check out the website for games, downloads, activities and sneak peeks! Read all about Hiccup and all of your favourite characters, learn to speak Dragonese and train your own Dragon to do tricks!

Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON BOOKS:

'Fiercely exciting and laugh-aloud funny, it is as full of joy for children of 7+ who have given up reading as for those who love it.' Amanda Craig, The Times

'CHILDREN 'S BOOK OF THE WEEK: This book is great fun and has a Blackadderish sense of humour ... full of the sort of jokes that will make schoolboys snigger.'- Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times

'... raucous and slapstick ... liberally illustrated with [Cressida Cowell's] riotous drawings, notes and maps.' -- The Financial Times

'[Cressida Cowell] puts a contemporary spin on the old brains over brawn moral and brings the story to a climax with a thrilling dragon duel. Lots for lots of different readers to enjoy.' - Books for Keeps

'a hilarious and gripping adventure, beautifully paced and studded with great dramatic scenes.' Amanda Craig, Times

'Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful'. - Independent on Sunday

'If light amusement is required, Cressida Cowell's How to Break a Dragon's Heart delivers all it promises. There are lots of illustrations and a playfulness with language that will draw in even the most reluctant reader.' Daily Telegraph 
'is not only funny, well written and thrilling, but also wise about what we owe those who love us.' The Times 
'Ahead of the film of the same title due to be released next March, this is a special edition of the first book in the uproarious series about Viking Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Highly original, and full of useful tips for dragon-owners everywhere.' Woman's Weekly

About The Author

Cressida Cowell grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. The name of the island is a secret, but it was such a small island it wasn’t really big enough to have a name at all. There were no roads or shops or electricity on the island, just one house and a storm-blown wilderness of sea-birds and heather.

Every year, Cressida’s family spent four weeks of the summer, and two weeks of the spring, on the island. The family had to catch their own fish to eat. The house was lit by candle-light, and there was no telephone or television, so Cressida spent her time drawing and writing stories.

In the evening, Cressida’s father read the children tales of the Vikings, who had invaded this island Archipelago over half a millennium before, of the quarrelsome Tribes who fought and tricked each other, and of legendary dragons who were supposed to live in the caves in the cliffs. This was how Cressida herself first began to write stories about Vikings and dragons, back when she was eight or nine years old. Many years later, she turned her original childhood ideas into the book How to Train Your Dragon, featuring Hiccup the reluctant Viking, and his equally reluctant dragon, Toothless.

When Cressida wasn’t on the island, she was going to school at Marlborough College in Wiltshire where she met and became close friends with Lauren Child, a fellow author/illustrator and the creator of TV’s Charlie and Lola. Cressida and Lauren remain close friends. Indeed Lauren is godmother to Cressida’s daughter Clemmie.

After school, Cressida obtained a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, a BA in Graphic Design from St Martin’s and an MA in Narrative Illustration from Brighton.
Cressida wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Little Bo Peep’s Library Book, for Hodder Children’s Books in 1998. Her first novel for eight to twelve year olds, How to Train Your Dragon, was published to popular and critical acclaim in 2003: ‘The next big thing in children’s literature,’ wrote The Independent on Sunday. ‘Irresistibly funny, exciting and endearing,’ said The Times.

How to Train Your Dragon has now been published in over thirty languages. Film rights were sold to DreamWorks Animation in 2003 for a substantial sum and the filmed version was released into cinemas in March 2010. The 3D animated film from the studio that created Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (the directors of Lilo and Stich) and produced by Bonnie Arnold (who produced Toy Story).

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