Dinosaur Trouble #2: The Lava Melt Shake product reviews

My son was super excited to read this book as he loves dinosaurs and volcanos. At first I was thinking I would have to really help him with reading the book as I know for an 8 year old his reading is not the quickest but he read the book really well and said he really liked it and it was funny. I liked how even though the sentences had a lot of easier words in them, there were a few bigger words as well that he had to take his time with and sound them out which was great to see when he guessed them correctly.

I liked how the sentences flowed and he could guess what the words were even if he was not so sure. My Zayden really loved the art work and wanted to try drawing some of the pictures of the dinosaurs and volcanos. He said he really enjoyed this book and because it was at his reading level kept him engaged more. I liked how the chapters were not too long and he could read a chapter at a time without losing concentration or getting bored.

I enjoyed reading this book with my son and sharing some laughs as he read it to me. I was also really impressed with his reading and how well he read the sentences. The price of the book is worth it, I believe it is a good read and my son enjoyed it which means he will be interested to read the book again. He will also get great use from the book by trying to draw the pictures from the chapters as well. He liked how every page pretty much had a picture to it or across the two pages and the writing font was large and easy for him to follow and read.

This book caused a serious upheaval for our two. Mr Seven said he thought it was more suitable for his age group because it had lots of big words, mostly referring to dinosaurs, and he regards himself as something of a dinosaur expert. But Miss Five thought it was intended for younger children because she liked the pictures and thought she might colour some of them. As for big words, well I (or someone else) could read it to her.

A happy compromise was reached however. It was decided that Mr Seven would read the book to her while she listened and looked at the pictures. I said I would like to listen too; Mr Seven thought that was quite sensible as he just might meet one or two new dinosaurs whose names were unfamiliar to him. So arguments were averted and we all settled together on the sofa to listen to the story.

We soon found we could not read through from start to finish. There were lots of questions from both children about what happens when a volcano erupts. I liked the way that the characteristics of a volcanic eruption are itemised at the start of the book in simple terms so that even Miss Five could understand them.

Mr Seven was sure dinosaurs did not eat people - even Tyrannosaurus Rex - because people were not around in the age of the dinosaur. And anyway, most dinosaurs were vegetarian. We had to stop and check out both those questions before we could continue. (He was right about dinosaurs predating humans but wrong about the carnivores - T-Rex was one of the dinosaur family that did eat meat. Just not people!) But hey, an author can use poetic licence to make a story more interesting!

This stop-start continued all the way through the book as other dinosaur names surfaced. Mr Seven was able to explain to his sister what a triceratops looked like, but we had to look up ankylosaur as he could not remember what it looked like. I like books like this one that stimulate the young reader to explore the world around them - they make learning fun.

By the time we had finished the whole thing, both children knew a little more about volcanos as well as dinosaurs. Mr Seven conceded that the book was probably more suitable for his sister and graciously gave her permission to get her coloured pencils and stickers so she could decorate the line drawings. She has been at school for over a term now and is becoming quite skilled at staying inside the lines. But first she took the book away and sat on her own, reading it out loud and filling in the gaps whenever she met a word she did not know. She was one happy little girl.