Kids love the How to Train Your Dragon movies and DreamWork’s Dragons TV shows but it’s not possible (or even healthy) to sit them in front of a screen all the time, repeatedly watching the adventures of Hiccup, Toothless and all the other fantastic characters and dragons.

When you want to give your children a break from the TV, we recommend any of the following excellent ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ books. They include activity books, reading books, colouring books and story books for younger children.

How to Train Your Dragon Box Sets

Some children may have seen all the films and TV shows but may have never read the books that the characters and stories are based on. If this is the case we strongly recommend that you grab one of these box sets of the entire original collection of 12 novels by Cressida Cowell. The suggested age range for readers is from 9 to 11 years old, but they can be read to younger children, and they are widely enjoyed by teenagers and adults too!

Young Readers and Story Books

These three How to Train Your Dragon books are aimed at younger children. They contain lots of lovely illustrations and less text so are perfect for bedtime stories. Some children may be able to understand some of the words which encourages them to read along with you whilst enjoying the pictures at the same time.

How to Train Your Dragon Activity Books

These three books are perfect to keep your child occupied on rainy days! They are full of puzzles, activities and things to make and do. Each of these books positively encourages thinking and play, and they also give you the opportunity to join in the fun with your youngsters as some activities may require the help of an adult – so they are great books for you too!

How to Train Your Dragon Sticker Books

These How to Train Your Dragon sticker books are very similar to the activity books we have just looked at. As well as containing lots of exciting stickers, these book have puzzles and quizzes where the stickers are used to complete the activity. Of course, stickers are tons of fun and can brighten up any surface so be prepared to have a few ‘stray’ stickers attached to things in your home that they were not designed for!

How to Train Your Dragon Drawing Books

If a child you know is gifted with artistic abilities then the two books above may be perfect for them. Many kids love to draw their favourite dragons but sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. These books will aid them in how to draw Toothless, Hookfang, Stormfly, etc., as well as popular Viking characters such as Hiccup, Astrid and the other riders.

How to Train Your Dragon Colouring Books

Colouring books are always popular and these two How to Train Your Dragon:The Hidden World options are full of illustrations ready for your children to colour in however they want! They feature images from the third movie so include pictures of Toothless and the Light Fury, as well as scenes with Hiccup, Astrid and the other dragon riders and their dragons. Just imagine how much fun your child will have colouring in all those bright and vivid creatures!

Other How to Train Your Dragon Books

The last three HTTYD books are a little different than the others on this page. To begin we have the rather excellent book written and illustrated by How to Train Your Dragon creator Cressida Cowell. The book offers a wonderful insight into her writing, her art and the amazing world of dragons that she has created. It is also very fun to read!

Next we have a book aimed at younger readers. The Mix & Match Dragons book allows your child to make over 200 different combinations of dragon and create their own story along the way. It offers hours of fun and encourages creativity.

Finally we view a very impressive pop-up book containing both a wonderful story and many excellent pop-up pages of dragons and maps. Due to the complexity of this book, it is aimed at slightly older readers, or at least those children that will not attempt to pull apart the detailed pop-up pieces!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our suggested buying guide to How to Train Your Dragon books for children. Sometimes it’s good to get the kids away from the screen and encourage them to read a book or do some book-based activities with the family!