The Hobbit was the reason I learned to read. My dad read it to me every night during that magical period when I started to connect the lines on the page with the story he was reading. I was captivated from the first chorus of Thorin's song to the fiery crash of Smaug's wrath over Lake-Town. While I followed Bilbo on his journey, The Hobbit became the standard by which I learned to judge all stories, and Smaug, from his wicked voice to his diamond waistcoat, kindled my love of dragons. Later, I moved on to The Lord of the Rings, Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy and other high fantasy. So in celebration of Tolkien Reading Day, I plan on going There and Back Again with The Hobbit and other books which feature an exhilarating combination of great storytelling and dragons. Care to join me?
The Hobbit is available in multiple formats.
What better place to start than learning a bit about the author, J.R.R. Tolkien. In John Ronald's Dragons, you will learn all about Tolkien's life and his fascination with dragons through the pale, intricate paintings that illustrate this picture book biography. After exhausting the back matter, older readers may want to turn to Mythmaker for a more extensive look at Tolkien's life.
Like The Hobbit, many books feature dragons as greedy villains who raze villages and steal treasures. That is certainly true of the Dragon of Pendor in A Wizard of Earthsea. Working a spell that is beyond his skill, Ged releases a shadowy thing that will haunt him across all of Earthsea. He reasons that a shadow cannot follow him into the mouth of a dragon, so he journeys to the island of Pendor to face the mighty Usurper he finds there.
Other authors make dragons the trusted sidekick. Beauty, the fire lizard Menolly befriends in Dragonsong, helps her survive the treacherous Threadfalls of Pern. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, weaves traditional Chinese tales into the journey of Minli and her flightless dragon companion. After Hiccup captures a Night Fury, he learns How to Train your Dragon with fish, friendship and goodwill.
The heroes of their own stories, Firedrake from Dragon Rider and Seraphina from Seraphina and Shadow Scale both search for ways to let dragons and humans live in peace and harmony. Firedrake and his companions, Ben and Sorrel, set out in search of the Rim of Heaven, a place where dragons can live hidden from humankind. Seraphina a half human-half dragon musician uses the gifts given by both of her parents to balance the uneasy truce between dragons and humans.
Where will your reading journey take you on Tolkien Reading Day?
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