My young neighbour recently turned nine.  She is a bookworm, so I visited our local bookstore to find a book for her.  As I stood in front of the shelves filled with books, and a little uncertain about what to choose, a very helpful woman asked if I needed help.  I told her I was looking for a book for a sophisticated reader, a girl, about to turn nine.  Without batting an eye, she handed me this book Dragonskin Slippers by Jessica Day George and told me she would love it.

About a week after  I had given Bella this book, there was a knock at the door.  Bella had just finished reading Dragonskin Slippers and wanted to share it with me.  She told me she had not been able to put it down, and had enjoyed the story of a young girl named Creel and her encounter with a dragon who has a passion for shoes.  As Creel has no shoes, in fact she is an abandoned orphan, cast out of home by her aunt to find her own way in life, she asks if the dragon could spare a pair.  Reluctantly, he allows her to and choose some beautiful blue slippers made from soft leather that fit perfectly.  These shoes are very special, not that Creel knows this at the time.  As Creel makes her way to the city where she hopes to find work as an embroiderer and dressmaker, she is attacked by a group of youths and rescued by another gallant dragon named Shardas.  This dragon has a passion for collecting beautiful glass.

Bella’s Mum told me later that it had been hard to get Bella to stop reading at night and then in the morning she would be reading over breakfast and not moving or getting ready for school or responding to any of her requests.  Bella finally told her mother that there was no way she could possibly hear her mother when she was sitting in a cave with a dragon!

I have just finished reading this book myself and I have to confess that I nearly missed my bus stop coming home from work I was so engrossed.  Bella and I are both excited that this is part of a series!  Indeed, I have just downloaded the second Dragonflight onto my ipad and started reading it last night.  The third is called Dragonspear.  This is the first time I have taken my ipad to bed to read a book – it feels a little weird, but I was hooked and was keen to keep reading about Creel and her friendship with Shardas, the prince Luka and Marta.