The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart
Stephanie Burgis
Bloomsbury
Published May 30, 2017

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About The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart
Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she’s ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw.

But she’s still the fiercest creature in the mountains — and now she’s found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she’ll be conquering new territory in no time…won’t she?

My Review
The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart is one of the most fun books I’ve read in a long time. I loved Aventurine’s spunky nature and her passion for chocolate. The story consistently shows her struggle with baffling human customs contrasted with her more familiar dragon ways. I loved the characters from Aventurine’s wily friend Silke to the strict chocolatier Marina.

On her journey, Aventurine discovers a love for chocolate which will certainly appeal to chocolate-loving readers, but she also learns to value humans despite how strange and different they are from dragons. When her new human friends become threatened by her dragon family, Aventurine must use all her wits and newfound understanding to bring the two sides together peacefully in the same way she’s had to make peace with her dragon and human self.

Readers who enjoyed Tuesdays at the Castle or Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George definitely need to give this book a read! Keep some chocolate handy to snack on, because you’re surely going to crave it.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Brief reference to Aventurine’s friend having brown hands. Not much in the way of race or description details given other than that.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story contains dragons and some magic elements, mostly in that some humans use magic to fight dragons or affect certain tasks, like food preparation.

Violent Content
Humans and dragons are enemies. Dragons eat humans (not shown in the story, but briefly discussed) and humans tried to kill dragons they encountered in the past.

Drug Content
Enchanted hot chocolate turns Aventurine into a human.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.