The Discovery

I found this series of book on display in my local KMart this week, I hadn't heard anything of them before that, but I picked up the first one and brought it home that day. Initially I thought that Robert Irwin (yes, Steve Irwin's son, already 9 years old) had written them, but Robert is a character rather than author- although he has done one of the illustrations for the book- a drawing of a dinosaur in the field guide at the back. Jack Wells is credited as the author on the title page.

The Discovery is the first of a series of chapter books aimed at primary school aged children about Robert's real life passion for dinosaurs. The first four titles are in bookshops now, with another four titles to be released later in the year. 

 

It's a simple enough story. Robert goes on a fossil hunting trip for his 9th birthday with his family and best friend Riley to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum at Winton, Queensland . Of course it wouldn't be exciting if he didn't find any fossils, and he wasn't transported back in time. Dinosaur stories can't leave that alone can they? There are some typical boyhood humour subjects- bad breath, burping and gentle teasing mixed in amongst the dinosaur facts. 

I'm not sure why I bought this book, I've never bought a Bindi Irwin book, although there are seemingly vast numbers of them. Perhaps I'll have to read a Bindi book at some stage? Master Wicker is a bit old for this style of book now, but he would have loved it I'm sure back when his own dinosaur fascination was at its peak. I will enjoy donating it to his old primary school library, I'm sure the boys there will make good use of it.