Darwin's Dragons

I liked that Queen Victoria was in the story.

It was really cool

I enjoyed the balance between historical fact and fiction, with some if the exchanges being easily imagined due to the characters being real people.

I would recommend.

Adventure, Discovery

I didn't particularly like this book as it wasn't my style but if you like history and dragons while being sat on the edge of where your reading with the choices he could make then this book is for you

It was fiction. I liked the fact that farthing is a dragon and that they are intelligent creatures. Also I like the fact that there is a story 25 years later.

This is a really special book. It is beautifully written and creates a connection with the protagonist and the creatures he discovers. Thrilling and heart-wrenching.

This is a great book to fit in with any UKS2 Darwin or evolution topic. Lots of factual accuracy but also a great element of fiction. I really enjoyed it. Absolutely would recommend it and will be reading it to my Y6 class in September.

A fantastic adventure story. I really enjoyed it and the children in year 6 were very taken with it too.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the books I loved best - animals, relationships with animals, a little imagination mixed in and adventure. Some truth mixed with fantasy. I read it so quickly because I wanted to find out what happened next.

Charles Darwin's expedition on HMS Beagle set off on 27th December 1831. They were at sea for five years.

This is the story of a cabin boy Syms Covington and his fictional adventure.

Sym's had become Mr Darwin's assistant and helped him catalogue and collect specimans. But whilst on Albermarle looking at Giant tortoises a storm blows up. It is a bad one, they should have stayed on the island instead of getting in the tender, it tips Mr Darwin out. Syms jumps in to hold on to him but they are separated by the waves.

Syms awakens on the shore of an island but he doesn't know which one. The volcano seems quite active, he has no water, food or shelter.There is no sign of The Beagle, are they looking for him?

Suddenly there is a screech and a big shadow and Syms is picked up but he can't see what by, but he knows it's claws are sharp! It drops him back into the sea, he gets back to the shore but it does it again and again - the third time he manages to hide in the seaweed and the "thing" flies away. But what is it? A dinosaur? Mr Darwin says they don't live now, they've been finding bones of them. He imagines but it can't be....can it?

Then another creature, a friendlier one approaches him. It begins to help him, finding food (it can get parts off the prickly pear), water and shelter. It saves him from the....dragon!

But the volcano gets worse. The lizard - now called Farthing because of the colour of his eyes - leads him almost to teh centre of the volcano and right into the dragon's lair!

Farthing wants Syms to take the eggs from the nest, because otherwise they will be destroyed by the volcano but are they Farthing's eggs or the dragons? He manages to get them and runs through a lava tunnel to a small old boat he has found. But the dragon has left her lair and chases him - he tries to hide under the boat but she sets fire to it. He clings to the a piece of wood, the eggs and Farthing.

Amazingly he is picked up by The Beagle, Farthing won't let him or the eggs out of her sight. So he wakes to find her next to him in the sick bay. They return to London where the eggs begin to hatch and there begins his next problem.

There is a twist at the end which is really fun.

I read this after reading My Friend the Octopus and it did not disappoint. I only wish I'd read it sooner!

TA, ESCP.

I loved this book.

This book starts really slowly and involves description of landscapes that your children may need help with picturing. However, once the main character leaves the island, the pace of the book changes and the settings become more familiar so persevere with this book as the ending is completely worth it!

This is a really quite suspensive book

Quirky twist on the work and travels of Darwin. Heartwarming and based on some actual facts in places.

I had been looking forward to reading this book for a long time. I have always enjoyed reading and learning about nature and Charles Darwin's exploits are so well documented. This book told an incredible story, based loosely on a member of Darwin's crew aboard The Beagle. Full of action and wonderful visuals painted by Lindsay Galvin. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I didnt like this book that much as it just wasn't that interesting to me, although I do find it exciting in most parts. It has ups and downs, some parts are boring but some parts are astonishing!

A great adventure story

An excellent book for teaching about Darwin and his journey on the Beagle. The main character tells the story and discovers dragons on the Galapagos islands, but the character and scientific method of Darwin is very well depicted. I would recommend for years 4, 5 and 6 for guided reading.

I’ve had this book on my wishlist for some time, but wasn’t sure whether or not to go ahead and actually buy it. I would probably rate it a 3.5…

My daughter might read it now. I’ll be very interested to hear what she says. 🤔

Fact and fiction come together. The author did lots of research on Darwin and the Galapagos. I wanted to love it but i didn't.

Starts off well and then becomes silly.

This book is great. It brings history to life, while telling a really engaging story.

What an exciting book! The action-packed start to the story gripped me from the beginning and also had me asking many questions, that kept me glued to the pages. I was drawn to the main character from the onset and really found myself empathising with him. Once I had finished a chapter I was eager to begin the next, making this a book that was easy to whizz through. I can't wait to read it to my class.

This is an excellent science, history and adventure story. It is very easy to get into and very exciting. It does have parts that are frightening, but overall it is a heart-warming story and one that I would recommend to ages 8 and above.

Loved it.

This is a fabulous book, combining snippets of historical information with a superb work of fiction. Would highly recommend and have brought it for each of our Y6 classes.

Darwin's assistant discovered dragons.

A great read which can tie in with Dragon topics and with Evolution. Also just a great read for juniors too as a class read or independently.

I enjoyed reading this book - it was easy to read (as an adult) although there weren't any narrative twists for me that I didn't see coming. Younger readers will not see the twists coming however! This book will appeal to those who like adventure stories, dragons and history - a really interesting perspective on a moment in scientific and social history. The story very much focuses on male characters on the whole although the representation of a young Queen Victoria is sparky.