The name is Bone—JAMES BONE, 007-years-old and licensed to dig. He and his friends are on a secret mission to find fossils from around the globe to share at school. Will they complete their mission in time – or could this be the end of Show and Tell for our brave explorers? James is a die-hard dino buff. Lucky for him, his paleontologist mom enlists his help with a big dig gig at a dino site! Along with his friends Pick, Shovel, and his dog Diggy, our young excavator ends up on a rambunctious, rip-ROARING archaeological adventure! Dr. Archie Ologist is napping on the job. Bonehead tries to beat them to the best finds. And it’s ALL ALLOSAURUS, ALL THE TIME! But rest assured: James always gets his bone. This all-new graphic novel series is designed for a reading audience in the elementary age range and introduces them to the world of James Bone; the international (young) man of misadventures from the Mesozoic!
Lexile Measure: 500
Interest Level: Ages 5-13
Midwest Book Review:
"The name is Bone—James Bone. 007-year-old and licensed to dig." With this opening admonition, a rollicking adventure evolves involving dinosaurs, young investigator paleontologists, and readers who love stories about finding fossils, in James Bone: The Awesome Allosaurus Adventure. This is the first in an 8-book Series, all to be available by Spring of 2022. Each features different U.S., Canada, or other country locations, a new and amazing dinosaur, and more educational, rambunctious adventures for James, Pick, Shovel, and Diggy the dog!
A team of young investigators and their pets awaken to the morning, jazzed about their new dig. The paleontologist's mother assigns them to their "big dig gig" in the Dinosaur Badlands and charges them with finding an allosaurus fossil. Carole Marsh injects fun puns, wordplay, action words and dialogue, and drama into this picture book story ("Hey! Dr. Archie Ologist is here to meet us!").
The Jurassic Badlands Boneyard the kids enter sports a sign that declares: "Population: 0 people, 15 million fossils." As the dig team searches the biggest pile of dinosaur remains ever found for one special fossil, readers receive a host of dinosaur and paleontological facts couched in vivid, action-packed adventure scenes. James Bone: The Awesome Allosaurus Adventure looks like a graphic novel, which makes it especially inviting to reluctant young readers, but it employs the drama and action of adventure wound into real-life facts about dinosaur digs and achieving goals via teamwork. There's even an evil villain.
All these elements create an engaging read that introduces youngsters to the world of dinosaur digs through an adventure that is vividly narrated, compellingly illustrated by Lee Barrow, and hard to put down. Even youngsters who normally eschew nonfiction facts and most picture book stories will find the format and drama-laced James Bone: The Awesome Allosaurus Adventure especially appealing.
-D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review