No Longer Wholesome: Why We DNF the HTTYD Series
- MommaSaurus
- Dec 26, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Quick Summary
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Humor
Recommended Age: Upper Middle Grade/YA
Possibly Concerning Content* (details below)
🤬 Language: Level 2
🛡️ Violence: Level 3
❤️ Romance: Level 1
Bottom line: We only recommend Book 1 and Book 4 in this series and advise strong caution with all others books.
We DNF Books 3 and 8 and did not read Books 9 on.
Jump to:
Review:
I want to start this out by saying we really loved the first book in the How to Train Your Dragon series. We loved the movies and shows so much that we were hopeful about the books. The first one did have some bullying I did not like but beyond that I felt like it was okay to continue. We also really love the fourth book. The other books, however, had a lot of concerning content that we did not like (See below for details).
Right around book 6, we began to sense a new theme within the How To Train a Dragon book series. Things were getting less playful and humorous and becoming darker. Book 7, unfortunately, tipped us over the edge.
We did end up finishing book 7 and trying book 8: How to Break a Dragon's Heart but we DNF'd that book within the first few chapters and have decided not to continue reading the series.
📍We listened to all of the books in audiobook format so we cannot speak for any images that may be appropriate in the physical copy of the books.
The audiobooks were narrated by David Tennant who did a fantastic job. There was music and sounds effects but they were not overwhelming.
Books in Series
Book 1: How To Train Your Dragon
📍Recommend with caution.
Blurb
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb? Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons—and becomes a hero." - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
There are mentions of blood
There is fighting.
A dragon blows up and guts are described.
Dragons are eaten
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
Bullying,
A Soothysayer.
The Vikings worship nordic gods including Thor, etc.
Book 2: How To Be a Pirate
📍Recommend with caution.
Blurb
"When Hiccup finds a coffin at sea, he opens it to discover a riddle that will lead to the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the world's greatest pirate and Hiccup's ancestor. So Hiccup and his friends set out on a treasure hunt, determined to master the art of swordfighting. How else will they escape an island of murderous dragons, defeat a boatload of Viking pirates, and survive all the twists and turns their journey will bring?" - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
There are mentions of blood
There is fighting.
Dragons are eaten
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
Bullying,
The inside of a dragon's stomach is described in detail.
The tribe of outcasts threatens to sell the main characters into slavery.
Hiccup's grandfather is a Soothsayer who practices fortune-telling.
The Vikings worship Norse gods.
Book 3: How To Speak Dragonese
📍We do not recommend. We DNF this book so our content warning is only for the first two chapters. We cannot speak for the rest of the book.
Blurb
"The story begins when Hiccup, his friend Fishlegs, and his cranky dragon Toothless get separated from their class during Boarding-an-Enemy-Ship practice. They accidentally board a prowling Roman galley intent on provoking war. When they rescue a tiny nanodragon, they uncover a plot to steal every dragon on the Isle of Berk!" - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
There are mentions of blood
There is fighting.
Dragons are eaten alive by humans
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
A dragon believes he is a 'living god' and can be summoned by saying his name.
Hiccup's grandfather is a Soothsayer who practices fortune-telling.
The Vikings worship Norse gods.
Book 4: How To Cheat a Dragon's Curse
📍We LOVED this one! A return to the wholesome humor.
Blurb
"Reluctant hero Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III must rescue his best friend, Fishlegs, from the deadly disease Vorpentitis. The only cure is rare and almost impossible to find...a potato. But where will Hiccup find such a thing? He'll have to dodge the terrible Sharkworms, battle Doomfangs, and outwit crazy Hooligans if he's going to be a Hero. Again." - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
A Viking is named ‘Big Boobied Bertha’ and an ad asks, “will those boobies continue to go undefeated?”
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
Injuries
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
Hiccup's grandfather is a Soothsayer who practices fortune-telling and gives out medicines that “may or may not cure you.” He looks into the future.
The Vikings worship Norse gods and pray to them.
Book 5: How to Twist a Dragon's Tale
📍Recommend with caution.
Blurb
"The heat is on for Hiccup as he is called to save the day once again. Someone has stolen the Fire-Stone. Now that the volcano on Volcano Island has become active, the tremors are hatching the eggs of the Exterminator dragons! Can Hiccup return the Fire-Stone to the Volcano, stop it from erupting, and save the Tribes from being wiped out by the terrible sword-claws of the Exterminators?" - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
A Viking is named ‘Big Boobied Bertha’ and they sing a song about, "strong are the breasts that crush without fear." A woman is described as having 'thunder thighs."
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
A dragon is killed.
A lot of reindeer are killed.
A bunch of bad dragons are eaten in the end.
❤️ Romance: Level 1
A romance in the past but not descriptions.
‼️ Heads up
Hiccup's grandfather is a Soothsayer who practices fortune-telling and gives out medicines that “may or may not cure you.” He looks into the future.
The Vikings worship Norse gods and pray to them.
Book 6: A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons
📍We do not recommend.
Blurb
"To save his dragon, Toothless, from being banished, Hiccup must sneak into the Meathead Public Library and steal the Vikings' most sacred book. The Vikings keep books locked up and heavily guard. So to save his friend, Hiccup must brave the Hairy Scary Librarian, a dreadful army of Meathead Warriors, and the formidable Driller-Dragons. Will Hiccup live to see his next birthday?" - From Amazon
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details. Possible spoilers.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
There is descriptions of lady parts, "her tremendous breasts heaved in surprise," and "even those boobies knew when they were beaten and they drooped in a distressed way."
🛡️ Violence: Level 2
A dragon is killed.
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
There are mentions of a tribe possibly sacrificing people to a dragon. It's mentioned that this is most likely a rumor.
There are threats of slavery.
A man is sent to the slave islands to be a slave for a crime he did not commit. We are told not to feel bad because he is not a nice person.
There is a lot of lying in this book that is never reprimanded.
Hiccup's grandfather is a Soothsayer who practices fortune-telling.
The Vikings worship Norse gods and pray to them.
Book 7: How to Ride a Dragon's Storm
📍We do not recommend.
Blurb
"Journey into the adventure that started it all for Hiccup and Toothless! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, everyone's favorite reluctant Viking hero, has three months, five days and six hours to discover America, get back to Berk, save his father, battle Polarserpents and win the annual Inter-Tribal Friendly Swimming Race. Can he do it?" -from Amazon.
Possible Concerning Content*
Click on dropdown arrows for details. Possible spoilers.
🤬 Language: Level 2
Name calling
Potty humor
Big Boobied Bertha is described multiple times including “Big Boobied Bertha’s boobies are flapping so joyfully that they looked as if they would carry her off into the sky like a couple of hot air balloons.” “Bertha’s boobies drooped.”
🛡️ Violence: Level 3
The deck is described as being bloody red
slaves threaten to eat the vikings livers.
A dragon is 'picked clean' where it's body rests at the bottom of the sea.
Slaves force a permanent 'slave mark' on Hiccup by using a sharp implement dipped in blue ink and digging it into the skin above his ear. He is forever tattooed and must hide it for the rest of his life or the other vikings will immediately take him into slavery due to the mark.
❤️ Romance: Level 1
None
‼️ Heads up
There are slaves who 'put a curse' upon the ship. This is described in two different chapters that the slaves are ‘laying a curse on the ship, a curse on the voyage, a curse on every single Viking man, woman and child who was keeping them there" and that it makes Hiccup's hair stand on end.
The slaves make Hiccup swear on his slave mark that he will help them.
Soothsaying
Worship of norse gods.
Book 8: How to Break a Dragon's Hear
📍We do not recommend. And we did not read any further books in this series.
Possible Concerning Content*
Within the prologue, there was already mention of a father killing his son and the bloody wars that followed. In the first chapter, there was a ghost that haunts the ocean searching for her lost child and will steal the heart of anyone she meets and take it below. Then, the Beserker tribe is apparently sacrifcing people to a creature they call 'the beast.' At that point, we turned off the audiobook and decided we were finished reading the series.
📍*Possibly Concerning Content Disclaimer: I try my best to include all relevant content notes, or possibly concerning content, but I may not catch everything and/or you may feel things are concerning that I do not. Please research individually if you’re sensitive to specific topics/subjects! 📍
Pass it Forward
If you do continue to read the series, please leave reviews wherever you can that mention any possibly concerning content so that parents like us can find information about these books before purchasing them.
Hopefully, we have given you enough information to decide if this series is right for your young reader. That's why I created this blog, after all.
Until next time, stay...
- Shelf Aware
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