Book: Kritika Kahawat and the Last Dragon of Kuruk
Author: Shobita Narayan
Illustrator: Mohit Suneja
Publisher: Scholastic India
Type of book: Paperback
Length: 161 pages
Recommended age: 8-12 years
My 9 yr old son is quite crazy about dragons, and devours any book on them. This book was special – as he said to me, so far all the dragon books he has read, seemed to belong to foreign lands, but this one he could relate to due to the Indian touch!
Below is a review by my 9 yr old son, Neil.
Summary
Kritika Kahawat and the Last Dragon of Kuruk is a fantasy adventure set in Irria, a magical world where dragons were believed to have disappeared long ago. The main character, fourteen-year-old Kritika Kahawat, comes from a family of storytellers. But then something amazing happens, the stories aren’t just stories anymore – Kritika and her best friend Ato discover dragon eggs, and Kritika finds herself having to deal with dragons, ancient magic and the dangerous Darkini. She also has her mischievous firecat (I had never heard of a firecat, but they are actual animals! This one though, is unique!), Maashu, around to make things even more interesting (Think, FIRE). Eventually, Kritika has to learn how to face challenges, but she is not alone in her journey.
Why I loved the book
I loved this book because it had dragons, magic, adventure, friendship and a funny, fiery cat—basically everything I want in a fantasy book! My favourite character is probably Ato. He is Kritika’s best friend and is completely obsessed with seeing an “elefunt”. Even when much more important and dangerous things are happening, Ato can still be thinking about elephants! He even wanted to name the dragonets “Haathi 1”, “Haathi 2” and so on!
One thing I really liked is that the book is its use of Indian words throughout the story, which made it very relatable. Words like chacha, gulab, haathi along with the author’s own special system of dragon mythology, makes this dragon book very different and unique compared to the others I have read so far.
The bond between Kritika and her dragon, Saras, was my favourite part of the whole story. The bond has been described so well by the author, that at times I felt that I was right there in the story, flying along with both of them, facing the Darkini with them!
My favourite parts
- Facing the Darkini, Kritika is afraid, in fact very afraid. But, that does not stop her. I learnt that being brave does not mean that you are not scared. You can be scared and be brave at the same time, like Kritika! This made me think about how we sometimes feel scared in school, when we need to perform, but we need to be brave enough to put in our best efforts.
- Kritika grows up hearing stories, and later when faced with the threats from Darkini, those stories become a guiding light for her. It made me think about all the times I have my parents tell me stories about their childhood and school, and sometimes I think it’s so boring! Now I think, all stories pass on some knowledge!
If you enjoyed this review and you have a Dragon enthusiast at home, you should order the book from Scholastic India (kbc affiliate link). Please type the name of the book in the search bar after clicking HERE.
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CLICK & BUY NOW!Disclaimer: Amardeep and her son Neil are part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc.
