Dragon Rider Book Report

Book: Dragon Rider
Author: Cornelia Funke
Number of pages: 500+ (Longest book I've read)

I read this book within 30 hours on the way to Florida when we went for 4th of July. Total reading time was about 7 hours.

1. List the main characters and describe them.

A. Firedrake
Species: Silver dragon
Eats: moonlight
Age: unknown
Personality: extremely loyal to friends
Only dragon to believe in Slatebeard's story about the rim of heaven, a mythical place where dragons can live in peace forever.

B. Ben
Species: Human
Eats:anything
Age: young
Personality: caring & friendly & not easily intimidated. Makes friends with many creatures he finds. Is friendly and always welcomes new friends. Joined the quest along the way. Does not live in the valley of the dragons.

C. Sorrel
Species: Spotted forest brownie
Eats: mushrooms
Age: 23 winters (8 in brownie years)
Personality: grumpy. Was the only one to not trust Twigleg. Likes to quarrel with Ben and is mean to Twigleg, and its a good thing too because the others didn't know Twigleg was a spy for Nettlebrand.

D. Barnabas Greenbloom
Species: human
Eats: anything
Age: about the age of Dad, maybe a little older
Personality: knows a lot about fabulous creatures, as they are known, like brownies and dragons and basilisks.

E. Nettlebrand
Species: unknown, hides in dragon shaped armor
Eats: silver dragon flesh
Age: unknown
Personality: murderous, cruel, evil, bloodthirsty, dangerous, raging, deadly creature. Wants to hunt the rest of the Silver Dragons and eat them.

2. What was the main story in the book?

Rat or Rosa Graytail found out that the humans were going to flood the valley of the dragons. So Ben, Sorrel and Firedrake set out to look for the rim of heaven because it was the only place in the world that the humans have never been able to find. They found it without getting killed. Nettlebrand tried to follow them to find the rest of the Silver dragons living there. They had to melt Nettlebrand's armor with brownie spit and dragon fire.

3. Where did the story take place? Name some places in the book.

The story takes place in the Valley of the Dragons in Europe and Rat was the first character seen. Some places in the book are Wadi Jum A'Ah Gorge and the Rim of Heaven in the Himalayans. Wadi Jum A'Ah Gorge in the Arabian Peninsula is the home of the blue djinn Asif.

4. List 5 new words you learned in this book. Write down their dictionary pronunciation and meaning.

relish (re-lish) - greatly enjoy
inquiring (in- kwir- ing) - asking about someone or something
tendrils (ten/dril) - the viny part of a plant that wraps around other plant bodies to gain support
flattered (flat-er-ed) - tried to please
cistern (sis-tern) - a water holding vessel

5. List the 5 major events in the story in the correct order.

    1. Firedrake and Sorrel set off for the rim of heaven.
    2. They find Ben.
    3. Nettlebrand finds out about Firedrake.
    4. Ben, Firedrake and Sorrel find the Rim of Heaven.
    5. Nettlebrand is killed.

6. What did the title have to do with the book?

The title only describes Ben and not the story itself. In Ben's former life, he was a man who rode away on the dragons and came back to his home village every year. Many years later, when he came back to live in his village, he fell ill and no one could help cure him. A lone dragon came down from the mountains and breathed dragon fire over his hut and in the morning Ben was cured. Before his first death, he became known as the Dragon Rider. In his second life, Ben was destined to ride the Silver Dragon and help defeat Nettlebrand.

7. Write a letter to your friend recommending this book.

Dear Joel,

I read a book called Dragon Rider. You would like it. It's about a silver dragon named Firedrake,a brownie named Sorrel,and a kid named Ben. It's 523 pages long.It has tons of mythical creatures like basalisks and giant rocs. Mom got it from the library. Dragon Rider is a really good book and you should read it. [P.S. I know you like violence and Dragon Rider has some in it.]