Jonny Duddle

I have to say I thought this was a great book. It was not only about dinosaurs but it taught a lesson too. It took a moral from the old fable, The Boy Who Cries Wolf. In the story one of the baby dinosaurs named, Bonehead, claims he will be a great look for the Gigantosaurus that their parents warned them about. Unfortunately, Bonehead tends to warn them about every dinosaur he sees and then when the Gigantosaurus really comes no one believes him. His friends then think that Bonehead had show more been lunch for Gigantosaurus, but he was able to get away at the last minute. However, his friends still did not believe him when he told them a Pteranodon was coming.
The illustrations have to be the best part of the book. It feels like you are right back in the time of the dinosaurs with volcanoes, large rock formations, and overgrown trees and plants. The dinosaurs themselves are real like the Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and the Brachiosaurus. Then the little dinosaurs seemed almost like a caricature of real dinosaurs. There is a poster size page in the story that make the Gigantosaurus seem even bigger. This is definitely a book for dinosaur lovers.
Added to the great illustrations is the author’s use of onomatopoeia with words like stomp, crunch, thump, and thud. The use of these words brings the dinosaurs alive in the story. Mr. Duddle, the author, also uses repetition about the Gigantosaurus in the story and it keeps the reader looking for it. It goes like this:
“Beware my child of the
Gigantosaurus,
so fierce and wild!
His feet go STOMP!
His jaws go CRUNCH!
In the blink of an eye,
You’d be his LUNCH!”
Another great feature is the last page of the story where the author takes the time to include real dinosaurs with facts about them to give the reader a brief lesson on dinosaurs. Hopefully this will wet the appetite of the reader to want to learn more about dinosaurs.
The big idea of this story is that if you cry wolf one to many times when the time comes no one will believe you. It also shows that you should pick your own path and not follow what everyone else does. However, when you mix this with cute little dinosaurs and real dinosaurs it make for a great story. show less

A really well written and fun book for kids transitioning to chapter books. The illustrations are beautiful and integrate well with the text. The story is lively and fast paced and with both male and female main characters it should appeal to both boys and girls. The writing is simple enough for kids to understand but interesting enough for adults, making it a great book for kids and parents to read together. A glossary at the back helps understand some of the maritime terms. I am show more interesting in finding other books by this author/illustrator now. show less

Purple beard and his crew meet a fiddler who tells them about an island with a glorious treasure. Purple beard doesn't care although some of his crew are a little bit nervous.

I like that each pirate has thought/word bubbles letting you see what they are really thinking. This makes me think that it would be a better book for reading with only between 1 and 3 kids b/c you can talk about the individual pirates.

There is a nice twist at the end with the island, the fiddler and the monster. The show more fiddler is a more complicated site gag and I'm not sure everyone will see it. show less

This book was a free book for Early Reviewers. It was a quick and easy read! I was not acquainted with this hilarious series until I read this book. Kids enamored with pirates would definitely enjoy this adventure of a little girl who is best friends with pirates, who come to the rescue of the town Dull-on-Sea. I like the "turning the tables" theme, in which kids help save the town and defeat the wicked and ghostly pirates. I also loved the idea of pirate parents and kids, just like a normal show more family--but they happen to be pirates! The illustrations were cartoon-like and funny. Some younger kids might find the bad pirates frightening, but overall I liked this book. show less