The Dragonology Chronicles: The Dragon's Eye - Dugald Steer

Dugald Steer's The Dragon's Eye is a novel-length follow up (the first of four) to the hugely successful Dragonology book.

12 year old Daniel Cook and his elder sister, 13 year old Beatrice, are sent to stay with their parents' strange tutor, Dr. Ernest Drake, one summer after their parents fail to keep their promise to come home from India for the summer vacation. However, it turns out to be one of the very best summers of their lives because they discover that Dr. Drake is actually a dragonologist, and no sooner do Daniel and Beatrice arrive on Dr. Drake's doorstep, than they are swept into a hunt for a number of dragon treasures.

Daniel narrates their story as he and Beatrice are pulled into a magical, wonderful, yet also highly dangerous world. Dr. Drake begins teaching them, not only about dragons, but also about the subjects that must be studied to develop a full knowledge of dragon lore. Beatrice, something of a skeptic at first, is soon won over when she meets the little dragon named Scorcher, who gives them the opportunity to see a dragon up close, and to learn about their mysterious ways. Before long, other children join them at Dr Drake's Dragonology summer school. Between solving riddles, keeping an ongoing journal and a dragonological record book (The dragonological record book is without doubt the most useful tool of the scientific dragonologist. Keep a dragon diary, and one day it may keep you! - Dr. Drake's Dragon Diary, August 1849), the children are kept very busy. But their summer brings them into the company of the evil Ignatius Crook, a man who feels he should have been designated the next Dragon Master after his father (the previous Dragon Master) dies. Crook is bent on finding the famous, mystical jewel known as the Dragon's Eye. The children learn to fly on a real dragon, find themselves fighting villains here and there, and try to recover Dr. Drake's diary, which Crook has stolen, and try to survive being made to walk the plank.

This is a fun book that younger readers will thoroughly enjoy.

The Dragon's Eye is also available from Amazon.com, and there is an excerpt of the first two chapters at Kids Reads, if you're interested in trying before you buy ! This book was received for review from Nikki Gamble at Write Away.