Dragonflare – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Exciting, loss, found family, bravery.
Children’s book title: Dragonflare.
Children’s author: Jamie Hammond.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Usborne.
ISBN: 9781836046929.
Recommended for children aged: 8-11.
First published: Paperback May 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: reading aloud and puzzle solving. It could also be used to encourage discussion on how someone’s reputation can unfairly precede them and why things aren’t always as they seem.
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Our review:
Flynn is a thief, but with his parent dead and a little sister to provide for, he thinks he has very little choice in the matter. For the past 100 years the inhabitants of Dragonflare Island have stayed hidden from the inhabitants of Hornsport, but suddenly they have initiated contact with the promise of great wealth for whoever wins their upcoming Wingrider Trials. Flynn’s sister Faye is very excited. She loves dragons and longs to see at least one, so he agrees to meet her so they can watch the dragon riders get chosen. Unfortunately, after being chased by a merchant he has stolen from and giving the accepted signal, he’s been kidnapped and is now expected to take part himself!
It’s not easy to have friends or work in a team if you’re a thief, so Flynn doesn’t have much hope of succeeding, but then his dragon, River, tells him there’s far more to the trials than winning the gold because the future of all dragons are at stake! Flynn is surprised to find himself making friends and working in a team and knows he can help the dragons, but unfortunately not everyone feels the same. There is a traitor in the mix who cares very little for anything other than winning the prize and taking all the historic, magical artefacts they can find.
As the trials progress, Flynn is one of the last riders standing and he knows he has to forget about everything other than saving the new friends he’s made, but what if one of them is the interloper? Maybe there’s more to making friends and trusting people than Flynn realised, but this time he’s determined not to let anyone down.
Our verdict:
This is a fun book to read with very likeable main protagonists. Told from Flynn’s POV, he understands himself very well and is able to explain his actions and reasoning in each of the trials. The puzzles require a little thought, although they aren’t overly difficult, and should give readers a good feeling as they solve each one and continue on through Flynn’s adventure. The chapters are fairly short and the illustrations are plentiful, which should encourage even the most reluctant of readers.
Flynn’s self-awareness and relationship with his sister give a great start for discussing how we see ourselves and how that can differ from the way others imagine us to be. There are plenty of opportunities to discuss what happens in each chapter and whether anyone was able to work out how they thought Flynn’s adventure would progress. There isn’t any of this story where nothing happens, and it has a few ‘oh’ moments which should surprise most students and make them want to continue reading to the very end.
Some of the answers to the puzzles are shown immediately, with others revealed once the adventure is over. This is definitely a book all in the suggested age range will look forward to reading and enjoying from start to finish.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Flynn is responsible for his little sister, Faye. How do you think her emotions changed from being on her own after seeing him taken away by a dragon to finding out he actually won the trials?
- Did you guess who the hornstinger was? If not, who did you think was responsible?
- It’s unlikely any of us will ever have enough gold to dive into like Flynn, but do you think you would do the same given the chance, or would you be far more restrained about it?
- In a cross-curricular activity with art design, either a new poster for the Wingrider Trials or one to warn the market stallholders and the public that thieves were operating in the area. Which one did you choose and why?
- What do you think about the way everyone assumed they knew just what Flynn was like? Were they right? Did you change your opinion of him as the book progressed?
- How do you think the friends he made during the trials will treat him now they know what he’s really like?
- There are a lot of illustrations in this book. Do you think this would be such a fun read without them?
Many thanks to Usborne for the review copy.
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