Review - Dinosaurs Before Dark (The Magic Tree House, Book 1) (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Children’s
Genre: Adventure
Size: 80 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: July 28, 1992
ISBN: 978-0679824114
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Magic Treehouse Series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

I read this book with my six year old son. He was very excited to get the first Magic Tree House book and I was very curious since I have heard a ton about this series. This is a great read for younger children and children just learning to read.

Jack and Annie find a magic tree house in the woods near their house. When they go up in the tree house they find it’s filled with books. When Jack takes down a book about Dinosaurs and starts to read it when him and Annie are magically transported to a land filled with dinosaurs.

This was a very short beginning chapter book suitable for young kids. The plot is straightforward, yet still engaging, interesting, and magical. Beginning readers should be able to follow along and even read some of their beginning sight words throughout.

I would classify this mainly as an adventure book with elements of magical realism (since they travel from a magic tree house).

Each chapter has a couple pages of pictures, so this makes wonderful transition book between picture books and chapter books. The pictures are well done and fun.

The book is also a bit educational since the book Jack brings along on their time traveling trip has interesting facts about Dinosaurs in it.

The story seems to be aimed a bit more at young boys because Jack is really the main character. But Annie is there too (his younger sister) and girls should find it easy to engage with her character as well.

Overall my son really enjoyed this book. It was a bit too simple for an adult, but I didn’t mind reading it and thought the story was decent. Definitely recommended for reading with young children, or for children who are ready to transition to reading beginning chapter books on their own. I am glad that we picked this up and foresee many more Magic Tree House books in our future!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge

Children's Book Review - Dino-Basketball by Lisa Wheeler (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Children's (Ages 4-8)
Genre: Picture Book
Size:  32 pages
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Release Date: April 2011
ISBN-13:  978-0761363934
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone (4th Dino Sports book)
Source: ARC through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

My son (4 years old) and I have enjoyed many of the previous Dino books (Dino-Hockey, Dino-Soccer, Dino-Baseball) by Wheeler, as well as her book Boogie-Knights.   This book was a great addition to the series.  I got a copy of this book to review through Netgalley(dot)com.

Again the Meat-Eaters and the Grass-Clippers take the court in competition to see who will win!  With fun rhymes and wonderful pictures this was another great book in the series.  My son was very engaged in the book and said that "It was wonderful!"

This whole series of books has been wonderful and combines two things kids (especially little boys) love: sports and dinosaurs.  I highly recommend this book if you have a preschooler who is a fan of sports and/or dinosaurs.  It is written in rhyme and all of the dinosaur names are highlighted with which team they are on (meat-eater or veggie-eater).  A great way for young kids to learn some of the rules behind sports and to learn about dinosaurs.

I do have to say that I think our absolute favorite was Dino-Hockey, but we are pretty big hockey fans.  Because Basketball is so high-scoring this book doesn't follow the scoring as well as other books; it is still a ton of fun though and very cleverly done.

Overall another wonderful kids' book by Wheeler.  Definitely one to check out if you have little sports or dinosaur fans at home.  These are some of my favorite books to read out-loud as an adult because they rhyme in fun ways, have good rhythm, and are just a ton of fun.  We will definitely keep checking out this series of kids' books in the future (Looks like Dino-Football is up next)!