I loved this book when I was a kid. Read it for the first time in 5th grade. Still love it to this day. 
 ------- 
 I had to write a bit more in defense of this book after reading some of the harsher critiques written by others. First of all, this was a children's book and yes, perhaps it it is not politically correct for today where feminism is concerned, it does create a world that did not exist before its inception. That is the beauty of fiction. This book was one of my first plunges into the genre and I was hooked BECAUSE of this book; not in spite of it. I was lost in a world of dragons and the boy who had the daring to dream beyond his limited life. There was magic to the pages of this book, and I for one have not forgotten the touch of that magic....not in all these years. So though it may not be the most sophisticated writing that ever graced the page, it is a beloved book that graces a place of honor on my bookshelf and always will.