Class Trip to the Cave of Doom

Dragon Slayers' Academy #3

by Kate McMullan, Bill Basso (Illustrator)

The Dark Forest just doesn't seem like the best place for a class trip. But that's where Seetha the dragon hid her gold, so that's where Wiglaf and the other kids from D.S.A. have to go-even if it means entering the booby-trapped Cave of Doom!

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Dragons, Humor, Fiction, Adventure, Chapter Books

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 1998

About the author

Kate McMullan is an American children's book author.
She is the author of the Dragon Slayers' Academy series. She is married to author and illustrator James McMullan.

She also has books published under the name: Katy Hall.

Reviews

[Aaron Schroeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wiglaf and his friends are put to the task to find Seetha the dragon's gold in the novel "Class Trip to the Cave of Doom" by Kate McMullan. This adventure puts the main characters through some scary situations in which they must work together to get the gold. I recommend this book to all middle school students, because the "Class Trip to the Cave of Doom" is a fun and understandable book.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth book was so good there are a number of 21 books in the series this is the best book I read so far. it only had 9 chapters but the book was compelling a lot.

[P.n.m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool like the other ones.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere, sometime – probably during a visit to Costco – I picked up a boxed set of eight books, plus a bookmark, of the first eight books in this series of silly kiddie chapter books, all with cover art by Stephen Gilpin and illustrations by Bill Basso.

Briefly, they depict a medieval boy named Wiglaf who escapes being picked on by his 12 big, dumb brothers and nelgected by his single-minded cabbage farmer folks, to attend (duh) Dragon Slayers' Academy. It's a run-down castle staffed by oddballs, run by a certain Mordred the Marvelous, who's only in it for the gold, and who send unprepared children out to rob dragons of their hoard. Quite by accident, Wiglaf becomes the first student in the school's history to actually slay a dragon, and then another one, despite having a horror of blood and never mustering the nerve to poke his sword into anything. On a lot of his adventures, he's accompanied by fellow students Angus (Mordred's eternally hungry nephew) and Eric (who only Wiglaf knows is actually a Princess Erica), more or less the Ron and Hermione to Wiglaf's Harry. And of course, what could go wrong without the "help" of a cracked wizard named Zelnoc, who is responsible for (among other things) teaching Wiglaf's pet pig, Daisy, to speak Pig Latin.

I believe you can guess where this is all going, so I won't belabor the synopsis other than to say that at least once in almost every book in this set, I laughed out loud. I believe the first time was when a minstrel, by way of inspiring Wiglaf to seek his fortune as a dragon slayer, told him that every dragon has a fatal weakness; like a certain dragaon who hated to be teased, and was thus slain by a knight who said, "Nonny noony poo poo, you old sissy" to it. If that just made whatever you're drinking shoot out of your nose, we may share an appreciation for these whimsical books, in which the problems of modern-day school kids are cosmetically touched up with Middle Ages trappings and the anachronisms (look that up) are perhaps the funniest part.

There are 20 books in the Dragon Slayers' Academy series. From book 9 onward, they include 97 Ways to Train a Dragon; Help! It's Parents' Day at DSA; Danger! Wizard at Work; The Ghost of Sir Herbert Dungeonstone; Beware! It's Friday the 13th; Pig Latin – Not Just for Pigs; Double Dragon Trouble; The World's Oldest Living Dragon; Hail, Hail, Camp Dragononka!; Never Trust a Troll; Little Giant, Big Trouble; and School's Out – Forever! Kate McCullan is also

[Mark Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My name is Erica, although everyone else at the academy knows me as Eric. Wiglaf is my best friend, and he's agreed to keep my secret from the staff and students. He's also the only one here who's killed two dragons, but we haven't collected the hoard of gold from either one. However, the second dragon, Seetha, hid her treasures in the Dark Forest, and all of the students are being sent to find it. I hope I get a chance to slay my first dragon, although it's much more dangerous than you might expect.

I haven't read the second book in the series yet, but I don't think it's a huge problem. Each story can be read very quickly and could easily be chapters in one novel rather than separate books. Wiglaf is the main character and is very endearing. He doesn't like to hurt other creatures and especially doesn't like the sight of blood. He's willing to work hard and is doing all he can to become a hero. Each story in the series includes humorous twists which is the most enjoyable aspect of them. The books can be read in about thirty minutes, so it greatly limits how much character and plot development can be accomplished. I would rather have seen the author focus on one story to develop, but these books are still entertaining. Give them a shot if you're looking for a quick, funny read

[Atbash (Emma) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actively choosing to continue reviewing these until I finish all sixteen that are currently in the trunk of my car. But this will be the last for tonight! Because I only took three of them out of the car.

We try for character development for our dear protagonist in this one, and this development comes in the form of the insecurity that his baby brother is cooler than him. Real for that. And then it tries to be a morality tale this time, possibly because the publishers told the author that they need some of those. And It’s literally just the fable about the monkey with its hand in the jar. But like, with treasure instead of a peanut or whatever. (And they had to do it twice to make it interesting? The first time, they play it straight, and the second time, the character doomed by greed or whatever is just saved by our boy just straight up kicking the allegorical device until it breaks. I think that was the only funny part in this one, so im deciding that’s also a plus for me.)

Daisy the pig is not in this one at all so it only gets one star.

[Anu Korpinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tämä kolmas osa sattui joltain kirpparilta tarttumaan mukaan. Poika luki sen ja tykkäsi, joten pitihän minunkin tutustua. Wiglaf on oppilaana Lohikäärmeakatemiassa, jonka tehtävänä on ilmeisesti kouluttaa pojista pelottomia lohikäärmeensurmaajasankareita. Tässä kirjassa oppilaat usutetaan etsimään metsän luolista lohikäärmeen aarretta, joka lopulta löydetäänkin. Jonkin verran kirjassa viitattiin edellisiin osiin, mutta ei se ihan hirveästi tarinaa haitannut. Nopeasti luettu kevyt fantasiakohellus, joka kyllä ainakin meidän 8-vuotiaaseen upposi. Jos löydän sarjaa lisää kirppiksiltä, niin varmasti ostan.

[Christ Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another journey accompanying Wiglaf and his fellow friends into the cave of doom. After searching in numerous caves for Seetha's(a female dragon which was killed by Wiglaf accidentally last episode) gold, they still found nothing until they went in the cave of doom, where they found an uncountable number of gold coins. Is it possible that they could bring all the gold home? Buy the book now and discover it all. I strongly recommend this book to primary and junior secondary students, where it must be an interesting and funny book.

[Rachel Klein]

Read with my 2nd grader. It's proved to be a fun series for him. Wiglaf is a cute character.

[Michael Morgado · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than working I guess.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ei yhtä hyvä kuin edellinen osa, mutta ehdottomasti lukemisen arvoinen.

[Jennifer Wadman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Silly.

[japj · Rating 5 out of 5]

nothing can compare (besides Knight for a Day).

[Larissa McCall · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 - Fun story and characters. It doesn't matter that the target audience is kids, it's still a fun read for all ages! I couldn't help but smile and giggle at the antics as they chase the gold of the dragons!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, he did not.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book 📖 ☺️. It went by really quickly.

[Saule-Lee Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cétait bon quand j'étais jeune, mais je n'ai pas réaccroché.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Dragon Slayers' Academy series by Kate McMullan. Our girls have been reading a few different dragon stories and so this series piqued their interest.

One of the series we've been reading (the Dragon Keepers series by Kate Klimo) paints the dragon as the hero and the slayer in a bad light. But this story gives us more of a typical look at dragons and their slayers, although the story is riddled with tongue-in-cheek humor.

This series offers an interesting take on the dragon/knight saga. The story centers around a school where children are taught to become dragon slayers, primarily for the purpose of enriching the school's headmaster with the slain dragon's hoard. So far he hasn't been the beneficiary of much dragon gold, but I get the feeling that with 19 books in the series, he will keep sending his boys out, hoping to succeed at long last.

It's a very entertaining story, with lots of subtle humor and word play within the narrative. I liked the fact that we meet Wiglaf's younger brother in this story and I hope we see more of him in the rest of the series. We are also looking forward to learning more about Wiglaf and his friends.

It's a quick read and I liked the story. Our oldest has been reading these stories on her own, so I'm reading them to catch up with the series. I don't know if we'll read any more of them together, but I know that we will certainly look for more of the books in this series at our local library.

[Rishabhb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently finished reading Class trip to the Cave of doom, by Kate Mcmullan. It is about a class at Dragon Slayers Academy, which is basically a school run by a greedy headmaster, who wants to train the students to kill dragons and steal their gold, because, as everybody knows, dragons have a lot of gold. One day the headmaster hears about a dragon with a lot of gold, so he sends his students to find the gold, which is hidden in the caves of doom. Mcmullan is good at making the characters seem realistic, but this book is not the type where as soon as you read the first page, you want to keep reading. It is more of a gradually getting more interesting type of book, because the first page does not have very many details. the plot of this book is good for people who are fans of fantasy, but I don't think people who like other genres would like it, because it is strictly extremely fantasy, and nothing else. This book is not very realistic at all, because everything seems so impossible to me. In all, I would only give this book 4 stars, but even though I do not like it very much, I think that anybody should try it, because they might like it more than me.

[~~~~~P-Diddy~~~~~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually, i left a part out. My teacher MADE me reads those books because i'm "ahead of the rest of the class"!! Can you believe it! These books bored me soooo much that i didn't even read all of them, i just read a couple chapters and the blurbs but still got 100% on my quiz!!! BOGUS!!! Just don't tell My 2nd grade teacher.







ps thats why i didn't put a "Date I finished this book" on here. TEEHEE!



SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for short books that might intrigue a reluctant reader, I'd try this series. You'll find yourself entering the DragonSlayer's Academy where boys can learn the finer points of Dragon warfare. It reminds me of a younger Harry Potter but less drama. Easy to read and the illustrations are very well done. A nice bonus in this edition is a mock Yearbook in the back that introduces you to the main characters in the series.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

That tring things you arnt prepared for are bad so do not try to show off just saying. I think kids 5th grade to high school will like it plus it is kinda hard two understand and the reasen why i did not tell you about the story is because i want you to read and not me give you any hints from me, but it is about a kid nammed Wigliaf who enters a dangoures cave will he retrun well read it and find out.

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 3 in the Dragon Slayers' Academy. For those not having read the previous two books -like me - I guess it can be a bit confusing at first getting to know the cast of the series. There are quite a lot of characters considering the length of the book. Nevertheless, I am sure young readers looking for action, adventure, knights, dragons and a good amount of humor, will appreciate this fantasy series.

[Omly · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter picked up this book at the school library as she is an avid fantasy reader. As a fourth grader though, this book was a little young for her. This would probably be a great book for a 2nd grader. There is nice large font, easy to read sentences (other than some pig-latin), and a moderately simple plot.

[Lanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute. I liked the story & main characters were ok. But I only had book 3. So I didn't know all the back story or anything. Still fun though. I bet I'd have liked it more if I'd been able to read books one and two. :/ it was a very fun idea and id definitely recommend this to young kids who like dragons.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

when Seetha dies Angus's uncle wants to find Seetha's gold so he splits DSA in to groups who ever finds the gold gets a special prize when they find the gold there are booby traps every where so they have to go out with out gold and their prize is to carry him and his chair back to the school

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max finished this book awhile ago. I think it is the best in the series so far. Most entertaining with Raider's of the Lost Ark type of adventure and peril. The main characters survive and the story continues. Onto the next book! Well maybe, it is really up to Max.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

We started reading these books to help the boys with their reading... but they love them so much they beg me to read the entire book in one sitting. I haven't even been tempted to give in, but they are such cute books!

[Grace Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book is really awesome but the words are just for ... kids and I didn't like it now then before because I loved it when I believed there is really princess and prince and dragons now I just think it is a little kids fairy tale.

[Elyshia Schafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's definitely a funny read. The mash-up of just about every knight/fantasy fiction cliche sometimes makes me shake my head, but they are usually used in a way that makes them all the more humorous, though they may not be as recognizable to the 7+ aged readers the book is meant for.