Dragonbreath
#1524.17 adjusted 4.16 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 11 books Status Complete 2009–2016 Reading commitment High Ursula Vernon Last reviewed 2026-09-05
Overview
Dragonbreath is a complete eleven-volume illustrated middle-grade series by Ursula Vernon, following Danny Dragonbreath, a talking dragon attending a school otherwise full of reptiles and amphibians, whose comic misadventures regularly involve genuine fantastical creatures and events: fairies, were-creatures, curses, and ghosts. Each book mixes prose narration with comic-style illustrated sequences, a hybrid format Vernon used to keep the books approachable for reluctant young readers while still telling complete adventure stories. Running from Dragonbreath (2009) to The Frozen Menace (2016), the series follows Danny and his best friend Wendell, an anxious iguana, through encounters with sea monsters, ninja frogs, and a variety of other creatures drawn from folklore and pop culture alike, played largely for comedy rather than danger. It is confirmed a wholly separate universe from Vernon's adult fiction, already credited in this canon under her pen name T. Kingfisher, with no shared setting or characters between the two bodies of work.
Comic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (11 works) counts toward ranking
Dragonbreath T. Kingfisher
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dragonbreath | 2009 | 1 | core | 3.98 (6,930 ratings) |
 | Attack of the Ninja Frogs | 2010 | 2 | core | 4.23 (2,461 ratings) |
 | Curse of the Were-Wiener | 2010 | 3 | core | 4.22 (1,982 ratings) |
 | Lair of the Bat Monster | 2011 | 4 | core | 4.29 (1,689 ratings) |
 | No Such Thing as Ghosts | 2011 | 5 | core | 4.27 (1,144 ratings) |
 | Revenge of the Horned Bunnies | 2012 | 6 | core | 4.33 (1,072 ratings) |
 | When Fairies Go Bad | 2012 | 7 | core | 4.30 (823 ratings) |
 | Nightmare of the Iguana | 2013 | 8 | core | 4.34 (744 ratings) |
 | The Case of the Toxic Mutants | 2013 | 9 | core | 4.32 (615 ratings) |
 | Knight-napped! | 2015 | 10 | core | 4.32 (543 ratings) |
 | The Frozen Menace | 2016 | 11 | core | 4.42 (444 ratings) |
Eleven-volume illustrated middle-grade chapter-book series (Dial Books, 2009-2016) following Danny Dragonbreath, a talking dragon attending a school otherwise full of reptiles and amphibians, whose comic misadventures regularly involve genuine magical creatures and events (fairies, were-creatures, ghosts, curses). Author-illustrated throughout; every volume mixes prose chapters with full-page comic-style illustrated sequences. Confirmed traditionally published from first release, not web-serialized.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Dragonbreath? Dragonbreath's Core Canon is 11 books.
- What is the reading order for Dragonbreath? Publication order, starting with Dragonbreath. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Dragonbreath finished? Complete (2009–2016).
- How much reading does Dragonbreath take? High reading commitment (estimated from 11 Core Canon books).
- How is Dragonbreath ranked? #152 in this site's official ranking, based on 18,447 reader ratings across 11 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #152?
Ranked #152 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.17 across 11 core books.
- A smaller readership (18,447 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.98 to 4.42.
- Less than 0.01 behind #151, The Last Unicorn (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 11 books · Complete · 18k ratings · Ranks #152 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (11 Core Canon books)
- Dragonbreath (2009)
- Attack of the Ninja Frogs (2010)
- Curse of the Were-Wiener (2010)
- Lair of the Bat Monster (2011)
- No Such Thing as Ghosts (2011)
- Revenge of the Horned Bunnies (2012)
- When Fairies Go Bad (2012)
- Nightmare of the Iguana (2013)
- The Case of the Toxic Mutants (2013)
- Knight-napped! (2015)
- The Frozen Menace (2016)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.17 across 18,447 ratings on 11 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Dragonbreath (Ursula Vernon) accepted 2026-09-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Ursula Vernon - Wikipedia Tier 2
- Dragonbreath series - FictionDB Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05
Rule: Core Canon is the complete eleven-book sequence, all published by Dial Books: Dragonbreath (2009), Attack of the Ninja Frogs (2010), Curse of the Were-Wiener (2010), Lair of the Bat Monster (2011), No Such Thing as Ghosts (2011), Revenge of the Horned Bunnies (2012), When Fairies Go Bad (2012), Nightmare of the Iguana (2013), The Case of the Toxic Mutants (2013), Knight-napped! (2015), and The Frozen Menace (2016).