{"id":167,"date":"2013-09-21T01:16:58","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T15:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marianmcguinness.com\/?p=167"},"modified":"2013-09-18T21:15:33","modified_gmt":"2013-09-18T11:15:33","slug":"robert-irwin-dinosaur-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marianmcguinness.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/21\/robert-irwin-dinosaur-hunter\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review : Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter<\/i><\/b> – series by Jack Wells, illustrated by Lachlan Creagh
\n(Random House Australia)
\nPB RRP $9.95 each<\/p>\n

Book 1 – The Discovery<\/i><\/b>
\nISBN 9871864718454<\/p>\n

Book 2 – Ambush at Cisco Swamp<\/i><\/b>
\nISBN 9871864718461<\/p>\n

Book 3 – Armoured Defence<\/i><\/b>
\nISBN 9871742750910<\/p>\n

Book 4 – The Dinosaur Feather<\/i><\/b>
\nISBN 9871742750927<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Marian McGuinness<\/p>\n

This new series featuring Robert Irwin, son of Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is every boy\u2019s dream. With the aid of a dinosaur claw fossil, 9-year-old Robert and his friend, Riley, time travel back 95 million years into the Cretaceous era where they witness first hand, living with (and escaping from) dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

Imagine being in the middle of a dinosaur stampede or crawling through a swamp, or camping in the Badlands of Canada or finding an abandoned dinosaur egg in prehistoric China.<\/b><\/p>\n

Each book features a particular dinosaur. The font is large and clear and the chapters are scattered with black and white sketches heightening the action. The level of language is suitable for the readership of 6 \u2013 9 year olds. Challenging words are used that will make readers feel more grown up, words like: carnivore, paleontologist,\u00a0Cretaceous\u00a0as well as the Latin names of the various dinosaurs. Readers will love all the prehistoric facts and finding out how to use a fossicker\u2019s took kit to find fossils.<\/p>\n

At the back of each book is a field guide detailing the chosen dinosaur. Lots of interesting information is given about their discovery, physical characteristics and the origin of their names. Robert Irwin has also sketched each dinosaur.<\/p>\n

\"bob<\/a>Book 1 \u2013 The Discovery<\/i><\/b> takes place in Winton, in outback Queensland. Robert and Riley are at the dinosaur digs. Robert is chipping away and discovers a dinosaur claw that becomes his portal. He is \u2018dragged down a plughole really fast\u2019 into the prehistoric world to a waterhole where the dinosaurs \u2018don\u2019t have good table manners.\u2019 As he is about to be made into a prehistoric meal, he is whisked back to the dino lab in Winton.<\/p>\n

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\"bob<\/a>Book 2 \u2013 Ambush at Cisco Swamp<\/i><\/b>. Robert and Riley are on a research trip to the Cisco Swamp in Texas for the annual census of alligators, where they tag, measure and weigh each gator. Robert soon finds himself in the prehistoric swampland where he comes face to face with the largest prehistoric crocodile, four times bigger than its relative today. The croc is angry as it has a stick lodged in its massive jaw. Robert creatively thinks of a solution making sure he doesn\u2019t become a \u2018boy-sized meal\u2019. A flock of pterosaurs wheel overhead as an enormous carnivore with \u2018blood-stained teeth\u2019 runs clumsily towards him. After a battle between the land dinos and the water dinos, Robert is back in the present, telling Riley of his adventures. Next time, Riley\u2019s going with him!<\/p>\n

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\"bob<\/a>Book 3 \u2013 Armoured Defence<\/i><\/b>. The boys are camping in the Canadian Badlands, where the T-rex, Triceratops and Stegosaur roamed. At night, they are tumbled into the vortex of time travel to 70 million years ago, where instead of the desert they had left, they are in a swamp with quicksand and monster-sized mozzies. Vines have trapped a duck-billed dino and a meat-eating gorgosaurus is after it as an easy meal. Riley goes missing as Robert rescues the trapped dino only to become the target of the hungry predator.<\/p>\n

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\"bob<\/a>Book 4 \u2013 The Dinosaur Feather<\/i><\/b>. Back at Australia Zoo, where Robert lives with his family, he is making a video of the cassowary, the third largest bird in the world. There is a theme of evolution here as the boys are whisked to prehistoric China where they come in contact with an oviraptor, a dinosaur completely covered in colourful feathers. They find an abandoned egg and go in search of its nest only to be confronted by a giant dino, 9 metres long with a horn on its forehead. It is searching the trees for tasty birds and perhaps a couple of tasty humans!<\/p>\n

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What\u2019s also exciting for lovers of all things prehistoric is that there are four more Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter books scheduled for release later in the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter – series by Jack Wells, illustrated by Lachlan Creagh (Random House Australia) PB RRP $9.95 each Book 1 – The Discovery ISBN 9871864718454 Book 2 – Ambush at Cisco Swamp ISBN 9871864718461 Book 3 – Armoured Defence ISBN 9871742750910 Book 4 – The Dinosaur Feather ISBN 9871742750927 Reviewed by Marian McGuinness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n