Dragonkeeper facts for kids
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| Author | Carole Wilkinson |
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| Original title | www.bdb.com.au |
| Cover artist | Blue Boat Design |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Folktale and adventure novel |
| Publisher | Black Dog Books |
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Publication date
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2003 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 339 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-876372-89-7 |
| OCLC | 156762942 |
| Followed by | Garden of the Purple Dragon |
Dragonkeeper is an exciting fantasy novel by Australian author Carole Wilkinson. It's the first book in the popular Dragonkeeper series. This series has six main books, split into two sets of three. The second book is Garden of the Purple Dragon, and the third is Dragon Moon. The next three books are Blood Brothers, Shadow Sister, and Bronze Bird Tower. There's also a prequel story called Dragon Dawn that tells what happened before the first book.
The story takes place in ancient China. It follows a young slave girl named Ping. She saves an old dragon and escapes her cruel master. A dangerous dragon hunter chases them across China. Ping and the dragon go on an amazing journey. They must protect a mysterious stone. This book is about a girl who feels unimportant but finds great strength and bravery inside herself.
Contents
What is Dragonkeeper About?
A Slave Girl's Dangerous Journey
In the far western mountains of the Han Empire in ancient China, a slave girl lives a hard life. She is nameless and feels alone. Her only friend is her pet rat, Hua. She works for a mean man called Master Lan. He treats an old dragon and his wife very badly.
One day, the old dragon's wife dies. The slave girl feels guilty. She is forced to prepare the dead dragon for her master. This makes her feel even worse. She then meets the last living dragon, Danzi.
Escaping the Emperor's Guards
The slave girl is told to get wine from the emperor's palace. But she gets distracted. She overhears the Emperor talking to a dragon hunter named Diao. The guards find her hiding. They chase her!
She escapes with Danzi. But the Emperor finds out his other dragons are dead. Master Lan blames the slave girl. Now, the imperial guards think she is an evil sorceress and hunt her.
Finding Her True Name and Destiny
The dragon, Long Danzi, gives the slave girl her true name: Ping. This name means 'duckweed'. Ping and Danzi must travel across China to a special place called Ocean. It is said to be a magical healing spot.
Ping must protect a mysterious stone. This stone is very important to the dragon's future. A necromancer (someone who talks to the dead) and the dragon hunter Diao are chasing them. They want to kill Danzi and take the stone.
Lessons Learned on the Road
As they travel, Ping learns many things from Danzi. These lessons help her face challenges. She learns how important friendship and courage are. She also discovers her true destiny: to be a Dragon Keeper.
Ping even becomes friends with the young emperor, Liu Che, for a short time. Danzi briefly leaves Ping for another companion, Wang Cao. But Ping chases after him. When they reunite, they must fight Diao. Diao hurts Hua and kills Wang Cao.
The Ocean and a New Beginning
After defeating Diao, Ping and Danzi finally reach the Ocean. Danzi tells Ping he must go across the Ocean to a "river of life." He will take Hua, who was hurt, with him so they can both heal.
The mysterious stone they protected turns out to be an egg! It hatches into a purple baby dragon. Before Danzi leaves, he names the baby: Long Kai Duan. Ping is now left alone with the baby dragon. He is the last imperial dragon and the first independent dragon.
Who are the Main Characters?
- Ping: A brave slave girl who becomes the first female Dragon Keeper. She didn't have a name before meeting Long Danzi.
- Hua: Ping's pet rat and her only friend at first. Danzi didn't like Hua until the rat saved him from a centipede.
- Long Danzi: An ancient green dragon. He is the last wild imperial dragon in the Han Empire. His name means 'courageous dragon'.
- Long Kai Duan: A baby dragon. He is the son of Long Danzi and Lu Yu. The mysterious stone was actually his egg. His name means 'Beginning'.
- Lu Yu: Danzi's wife and Kai's mother. She died early in the book from sadness.
- Master Lan: Ping's cruel and lazy master. He pretended to be an Imperial Dragon Keeper.
- Diao: A dangerous Dragon Hunter. He chases Long Danzi throughout the story to get the dragon's body and his egg.
- Wang Cao: A herbalist who was once Danzi's companion. He was not a true Dragon Keeper.
- Jiang Bing: A boat woman who secretly works with the Necromancer.
- "The Necromancer": An evil person who wants the dragon stone. He gets it from Diao after Ping and Danzi lose it.
- Liu Che: The young Emperor of China and Ping's friend for a while.
- Tian Fen: The Emperor's advisor. He was there when the order was given to capture Ping.
Film Adaptation News
In 2017, a computer-animated movie based on the Dragonkeeper books was announced. It is being made by companies from Spain and China. The animation is done by China Film Animation, Base FX, and Ilion Animation Studios.
The film is directed by Ignacio Ferreras and co-directed by Zhang Bo. The story for the movie is written by Ferreras, Carole Wilkinson (the author of the books), and others. The music for the film is by Zhiyi Wang. The movie was planned to be released around Summer 2021.
Awards for Dragonkeeper
The book Dragonkeeper has won several awards:
- 2003 Aurealis Awards - Best Young Adult Book - winner
- 2004 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Younger Readers) - winner
- 2004 Queensland Premier's Literary Best Children's Book Award - winner
- 2004 NSW Premier's Literary Awards - shortlist
- 2006 Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA) Older Readers - winner
- 2006 Kalbacher Klapperschlange Award (Germany) - winner
- 2006 Canberra's Own Outstanding List (COOL) Award - shortlist
