Darwin's Dragons: a thrilling, rip-roaring adventure full of discovery and magic

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My favourite part in the book is when the main protagonist (Covington) found the dragon’s lair and saw all its golden eggs. This is an excellent flight of fantasy; a fantasy firmly grounded in historical fact and geographical realism. There's the wonderful novels by Emma Carroll, The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr, The Water's Daughter by Michelle Lovric and The Vanishing Trick by Jenni Spangler but this is definitely a genre I'd like to read more of with my little readers. When Syms Covington, assistant to Charles Darwin, falls overboard in a storm around the Galapagos, he is washed ashore on an unexplored volcanic island. It also leaves plenty to think about, in terms of how the complex interrelationship between the humans and the animal kingdom, and about the ethics of dealing with creatures both familiar and unknown as humans go about exploring animal habitats.

This is a history and a science lesson with an extraordinary magical twist- where imagination takes flight in the form of golden, fire-breathing creatures and where the reader can walk in the footprints of one of the most famous scientists ever known. Exploring the Galapagos, he is left shipwrecked on an almost uninhabitable island home to the most extraordinary creatures. The book is set in 1835, so right at the beginning of Charles Darwin’s career, when he was starting to become truly recognised in his profession. In the world of children’s literature, there seems to be an ever-growing market for books about dragons, and therefore it is lovely to see a take on dragons that brings them more into real life. I loved the descriptions, the way the creatures were brought to life and how history was brought forwards to create this beautiful period of time where science was still coming forwards.

Darwin’s Dragons would be a perfect book to read alongside a unit on evolution or study of Charles Darwin. Syms’ life is saved by a lizard that he names Farthing – named after a shiny copper coin that he received as a reward for his fiddle playing, and Farthing becomes his saviour, friend and talisman.

In fact, Sym and all the other characters are named after real people that set off on this voyage, adding a genuine quality that makes you want to find out more of the actual history.Sárkányokkal engem olyannyira meg lehet venni, hogy még ezt az ifjúsági regényt is beszereztem egy óvatlan pillanatomban.