LittleElfMan's Bibliotherapy: Dragonkeeper series by Carole Wilkinson

Monday, March 12, 2012

Dragonkeeper series by Carole Wilkinson

(New covers released May 2012)

Years ago, when I worked in the children's section of a large inner-city bookshop, one of the books that I could easily rely on to sell, and make a good recommendation, was Dragonkeeper and then its sequels as they came out. I had never read it, but I had heard they were good and parents were keen to give their children something that mixed a bit of history in with the fantasy that they craved.

I even saw an (adult) colleague consume them in rapid succession, which simply fueled my hand selling. Please don't mistake me for some casual staffer who knew nothing of the books they put in your hands, I was simply reading other series at the time and had heard enough good reports to confidently recommend this series. But I always planned on reading them.

Late last year I listened to the Dragonkeeper (book 1) audio book on one of my away trips for work. It was thoroughly entertaining. one of those delightful blends between facts taken from history and fantasy generously layered on top, you find yourself asking, why haven't there been more reports of dragon bones/fossils coming out of China?

So, recently when I knew I would be meeting Carole Wilkinson, I made the time to read the 2nd and 3rd books in the series. They were just as good. They are perfectly paced; excitement, action and adventure unfold equally with character development. They playful nature of the dragons makes you lament their disappearance from the world (for surely they once existed!). But the dragons, their keeper, Ping, and others we meet along the journey become your friends.

It's not hard to see why this series has won so many awards. But what makes them even better for me, is that an eight year old could pick these up (and they do) and love them, just as much as a teenager could, or a 28 year old (yes, I mean me). Good writing transcends target age groups.