This is the fifth book in the Dragon Slayers' Academy series by Kate McMullan. Our girls have been reading a few different dragon stories and so this series piqued their interest. One of the series we've been reading (the Dragon Keepers series by Kate Klimo) paints the dragon as the hero and the slayer in a bad light. But this story gives us more of a typical look at dragons and their slayers, although the story is riddled with tongue-in-cheek humor. This series offers an interesting take on the dragon/knight saga. The story centers around a school where children are taught to become dragon slayers, primarily for the purpose of enriching the school's headmaster with the slain dragon's hoard. So far he hasn't been the beneficiary of much dragon gold, but I get the feeling that with 19 books in the series, he will keep sending his boys out, hoping to succeed at long last. It's a very entertaining story, with lots of subtle humor and word play within the narrative. I thought it was fun that the boys took a break from dragon slaying and they entertained some visitors to the school. I loved that the children wrote essays in order to win a day with Sir Lancelot. It's a quick read and I liked the story. Our oldest has been reading these stories on her own, so I'm reading them quickly to catch up with her in the series. We've read a few of the stories together, but now we're all reading them independently. Our youngest is also reading a few of these tales now that she's finished with the first Warriors series. I am sure that we will look for more of the books in this series at our local library.
