Common Sense Media Review
By Amanda Bindel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Complex plot is tricky for a picture book; games are fun.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Official Storybook App)
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (OFFICIAL STORYBOOK APP) includes the story, read aloud with screenshots from the movie, two games, and a coloring activity. In Dragon Hunters, players are the dragon and must tap the hunters while avoiding the sheep. In Dragon Racing, kids choose their dragon and maneuver to fly through the air, avoiding obstacles and collecting prizes, in a race with other dragons. The coloring activity features several pictures of characters from the film and six art tools plus stickers to decorate the pages.
Is It Any Good?
It's best to look at How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Official Storybook App) in two parts: the story and the game. The games are excellent, giving kids options to choose their level of challenge, to pick their racing dragon, to increase the challenge, and to change the scenes as kids play. The story, though, is more iffy, because the big ideas and conflicts involved can't be fully developed in the short format of the storybook app. Kids who already know the movie would appreciate the book more. The coloring pages are comparable to other coloring apps but are probably out of sync for the age of kids who'd be interested in the story and games. Younger siblings may be drawn to the coloring pages whereas older kids would enjoy the games more.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the complex relationships among the characters more in depth. How do you think Hiccup felt about his mother leaving him to be with the dragons? Contrast that to Hiccup's declaration to his dragon that he wouldn't leave him.
The dragon babies didn't listen to anyone, and that turned out to be helpful. Are there times that not listening or obeying orders is a good idea? What are times when it is important?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : June 5, 2014
- Genre : Entertainment
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Book Characters
- Publisher : Cupcake Digital
- Version : 1.0.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 4.3 or later; Android 2.2 and up
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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