The Art of How to Train Your Dragon: A Stunning DreamWorks Animation Gallery of Concept Illustration and Cinema History

I remember purchasing The Art of Disney's Dragons with the hope of finding a comprehensive collection of all the dragons and reptilian creatures that appeared in the animated films I loved as a child. Little did I know that it would feature fewer of these fairy-tale beasts than The Art of How to Train Your Dragon—a book that not only takes you flying with Hiccup and Toothless across the island of Berk but also introduces a whole new world full of fantastic creatures of all breeds, sizes, and personalities. ★★★★★ Art The concept art is the strongest aspect of this book. It was through The Art of How to Train Your Dragon series that I first discovered the work of Nico Marlet, whose inimitable pencil and marker style left a lasting impression. I had never before seen such imaginative and masterfully drawn character designs—each pose so dynamic it tells a story of its own. You’ll find countless designs and stages of development, showing how the characters evolved from Cressida Cowell’s original book into their final film versions. A real highlight is the inclusion of production-quality 3D models of both Vikings and dragons, allowing you to see their transformation into the beloved characters we know today. I was especially delighted to learn about concepts that didn’t make it into the first film—like Hiccup’s mother, whose early version, named Valhallarama, was drastically different but just as fascinating as the dragon-riding version introduced in the sequel. And did you know Snotlout once had a female version? That alone still makes me grin with all 36 teeth. 😄 ★★★★★ Text From the very first pages—starting with an introduction by the "dragons' mother," Cressida Cowell—I was drawn into the enchanting atmosphere of a Scottish island where not only vikings, but possibly dragons, once lived. The nature is described so vividly, it feels like a living fairy tale. Though it’s an art book, there’s plenty to read. It dives into how the team adapted the books into film, developed the characters and dragons, built the world of Berk, and tackled the technical challenges that made the setting so believable. The text reads like a behind-the-scenes documentary, keeping you captivated as though you’re listening to interviews with the creators. It’s anything but boring. ★★★★☆ Book Design Like many DreamWorks art books, this one meets a gold standard in design. With 160 landscape-oriented pages, it’s a joy to flip through—well-placed images, stylized yet readable fonts, and thoughtfully arranged layouts. The black textured cover with a deep-red, glossy dragon insignia feels great in your hands. Thankfully, the paper doesn’t show fingerprints easily, unlike some other books with ultra-glossy pages. The only drawback is the flimsy dust jacket—a common issue in Chronicle Books' Disney editions. It doesn’t hold up as well over time compared to the sturdier jackets from Insight Editions (e.g., The Art of Madagascar or Puss in Boots). ★★★★★ Price Compared to the third book (The Art of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), which could be called the "Moby Dick" of the series due to its overinflated price, the original Art of book (and even the second part) is a great buy. As of July 2024, I found a very good copy for just $15 with a tiny dragon tail—and even in 2025, there are still plenty of affordable pre-owned copies available. For animation fans or art book collectors, this is excellent quality at a reasonable price. That third book, though? It might be a pain in the… dragon rider’s back for perfectionists. ★★★★★ Overall Impressions Not many art books in my collection leave me with such warm feelings. They sometimes disappoint with weak writing, underwhelming imagery, or unmet expectations. But The Art of How to Train Your Dragon delivers on all fronts. I enjoyed every moment—reading, studying the tiniest artistic details, and being surprised by hidden gems. It’s well-written, thoughtfully designed, and clearly made with the same love that went into the film itself. And best of all? It’s filled with dragons—some toothy, and even one Toothless.

This is a beautiful art book with high-quality images and informative text that is fun to read. Great for any fan of How To Train Your Dragon who appreciates the artistic aspects behind it. It's not very thick, but there's still a lot inside. I got it as a gift for my daughter and she loves it.

I can't believe my eyes when I saw this books on the shelf at a local bookshop, two months earlier than its scheduled release date. Flipped a few pages, and saw the unique style of Nicolas Marlet, flipped back to the cover and found that Tracy Miller-Zarneke is the author and the movie's from Dreamworks. Those three names instantly reminded me of quality art book The Art of Kung Fu Panda. I'm glad to say that this book is as good and fun. By the way, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois are the famed directors here. Inside the book are more than 350 development artwork, including early character designs, story sketches, and concept paintings. The books is divided into three parts, the dragons, vikings and the environment with stuff like props and houses. Discarded art and characters are also included, like Hiccup's mother - who can cook a mean dish with dragon meat. Accompanying the art are plenty of interesting quotes and commentary from the production staff. Nicolas Marlet and Simon Otto seem to be the lead character designers responsible for the concept art of the dragons and vikings, although a good amount of designs are actually from Nicolas Marlet. There's a wide range of wackiness and creativity to the drawings. The character digital paintings are great and the colours are really beautiful, kudos to Zhaoping Wei. The environment paintings from Pierre-Olivier Vincent, art director, are beautiful. This guy really knows how to draw scenic yet precarious backgrounds like sloping hilltops, snow-capped sea arches and Dragon island which is like an ice-cream cone with molten lava as topping. Not only that, his tranquil pieces are also spectacular, National Geographic-spectacular. He has created places you want to visit but probably not because one wrong step and you'll roll down the hill. There are even a few illustrations from Dominique Louis, who did some pastel concept art for Pixar. His using digital pastels now and there's no difference from his traditional work, I'm glad to say. The fun and stylised houses, statues, weapons, boats and other props are from Kirsten Kawamura and Mel Zwyer. It's a fantastic book showing the creative prowess of amazing artists. Highly recommended. - By the way, if you missed the "About the Author" section above, I have to mention it here again because Tracey Miller-Zarneke has authored some really great art books that you should check out. - The Art of Kung Fu Panda - The Art of Meet the Robinsons - The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - (More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

I'm not a huge collector of art books like some are--not being an artist, I have to be stunned enough by the animation (and the film itself) to want the art book. So this is perhaps the third one I've ever purchased, but it certainly fit my amateur art critic qualifications. The book is stunning, from the incredible cover to all the little drawings once would expect from an art book. Cressdia Cowell's preface sets up the emotion of the collection, and everything flows right in that vein of explaining all the art that went into the movie. The book is well-organized, its chapters focusing on characters, background, dragons, etc., making a straight-through read logical and a delve for something specific easy. To my surprise and delight, even Cowell's book illustrations have been included to demonstrate the inspirations. Sketches as well as fantastical concept art that seems to exist simply for beauty's sake are all in here. And, as every art book should have, the Powers That Be have included plenty of great notes and thoughts about the work. This should please fans of art as well as those who simply loved the movie.

This is such a fascinating book. My 4yr old is obsessed with How to Train your Dragon. I bought it and he wanted me to read it to him every night, few pages a night until we finally got through it, he didn't really know what I was reading but he was so fascinated with the pictures. Throughout the day I would see him just staring at the pictures. Super cool.

The only downside to reading these kinds of artbooks is coming to the end. There's tons of fantastic work in this book, and when I finished I only felt hungry for more, heh. Oh well. I'm giving this one four stars merely as a comparison to the Kung Fu Panda artbook I also own, which I felt was a bit more thorough. I found myself craving more pages on the design development of Hiccup and Toothless, though granted there are a ton of great drawings crammed into what is there. And I was pleased to see a few pages devoted to general storyboards, which were spread out over the Panda book. But for those who aren't interested in the comparison, I do recommend this book to anyone who likes "Art of" books. It didn't quite quench my (admittedly ravenous) thirst for development art on this fantastic film, but it sure was a treat.

I saw the movie and read the 'How to Train your Dragon' books and loved them, so I decided to try this book. I enjoyed every minute that I spent reading 'The Art of How to Train your Dragon' and it has become one of my favorite books I've ever read; it has great pictures that are full of color and character, and it tells you about the things they had to do and tweak while making the movie. It was so impressive to read about how specific the makers of the movie were about every small detail and the hard work they put into making 'How to Train your Dragon' The Movie. My favorite part I read in this book was when it talked about all the different options they explored while designing the characters and the dragons. This book is without a doubt worth reading, it really helps you appreciate the movie and the people that took the time to make that movie as phenomenal as it is. I would recommend 'The Art of How to Train your Dragon' to anyone that loved the movie or the books; this book is fantastic!

I am not ashamed to say this, but I am a 58 year old woman who loves dragons. I began my journey when I read the Ann McCaffrey books in the Dragon Riders of Pern series many years ago. Then "How to Train Your Dragon" came to the movies. The bond of man and dragon was rekindled in a new tale of wonder. The care and artistry of every animator who touched this film is evident. As the credits rolled by at the end of the movie, I saw more wonderous images of other dragons. I had to have a book, or poster, or some thing I could touch and feel that belonged to me. This book was the answer to my wish. Each character, every dragon, every bit of scenery, and imagination of every artist and actor who touched this film is illustrated in this book. It is just fabulous. The care, the detail, the dedication to bring the world of Berk to life shows in the illustrations of every artist. Thanks for giving wings to my world again. I love this book!!!