Anya and the Dragon

Do you have a middle-grader who loves dragons? This one will keep that child’s nose in the book to find out more.I loved Anya and how she is negotiating her life with goats, her father’s absence, a new friend, and the town magistrate who is pushing her family to abandone their home. This book has adventure, a great setting, and fun characters. I recommend it!

I read "Anya and the Dragon" by Sofia Pasternack, the main characters are Anya and Ivan. Two things readers will like about this book is the magic strings and how all of Ivans brothers are also named Ivan. This book will appeal to fans of "Wings of Fire" and "Furthermore".

This book is so much fun! I love the friendship between Anya and Ivan and the first time the dragon spoke I honestly teared up a little. This is such a gorgeous story of friendship and bravery and harnessing your power, and I loved every minute of it!

I mostly bought this because my daughter’s name is Anya, but it’s an interesting children’s book. A good read.

Solid, good-hearted adventure tale, tightly plotted and quick paced. Anya is an excellent lead, strong and kind, pushing on despite her fears and constantly striving to do what's right in the face of uncertainty. The stakes are dramatic and believable. Enthusiastically recommended.

I read this for my young adult book club. I loved it and so did my kids!!! A really unique story!

Good gift for my granddaughter

11-year-old Anya lives a simple life in her tiny village, and she thinks all is well until the local magistrate threatens her family's land unless her family can pay 250 rubles in one month. When Anya meets a family of Fools who is looking for a dangerous dragon, she offers to help in exchange for payment. But when Anya meets the dragon and discovers that the danger may be greatly exaggerated, Anya has to decide whether to save her family or the dragon.I loved this story. In some ways, it reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof, only with magic and dragons. Both are set in Russia, and the families in both suffer discrimination based solely on their status as Jews. Unlike in Fiddler, though, Anya is not in search of a husband - though we do meet several young boys who would be more than happy to marry her, some declaring it before even properly meeting Anya. Anya declines. No, Anya is a strong and brave young girl who is a wonderful protagonist for the story. She studies the Torah in preparation for her upcoming bat mitvah and struggles with understanding various passages of the Torah. In particular, she keeps coming back to the commandment of "You shall not kill" and wondering if it's ever okay to do so.Helping her in these discussions is her grandmother, her babushka. Babulya is quite the character, and I think I would love to meet her in real life. Well, maybe not. Her magic and her ability to know things are kind of scary. Lol.I also loved the way magic was used in this book. It was a somewhat unique concept that I've only seen in a couple of other books I've read. I definitely liked the way the magic was combined with all of the different magical creatures that were also pulled from Russian folktales.I think this book is a fabulous story and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more stories with Anya and Ivan. I also think this book could be a great introduction for discussions of history and discrimination with young readers. The former teacher in me can't help but see the possibilities of cooperative lessons between History or Social Studies teachers and English teachers, especially with the mythologies involved.So, if you like strong female characters, magic, dragons, swords, mythical creatures, and mischievous house spirits who don't mind letting you know when they're upset, then you should definitely read this book.

I bought this for my daughter because it featured a female protagonist and the book did not disappoint. Anya is strong, resourceful and sticks to her principles. Some of the creature and character names as well as some of the themes are a bit much for a 6 year old so I’m saving it for when she is 8. I’ve already bought the second book in the series though.