Scott Ciencin

When a storm at sea washes a young pickpocket and a surgeon's son overboard, Raymond and Hugh find themselves on the island of Dinotopia, where humans and dinosaurs live in harmony. Original.

Dinotopia

Kirsten Simkiss

You know, this one was pretty cute. I always did like the world of Dinotopia. I think I was first exposed to it when I was little and there was a mini-series on ABC that I now own for myself. This book was a fun little snapshot of life in Dinotopia. In any case, I'd give this one a solid 4 stars.

This book touches on a lot of issues kids sometimes have to handle and aren't ready for yet. Loss of someone important to them, for instance. Jealousy and anxiety about friends preferring others to them and the selfishness that comes with it is often touched upon as well. There's also a nice tone that permeates the world of Dinotopia that no one is useless or unwanted, which is always a great theme. These are all things normal kids deal with, even without living amongst dinosaurs.

The main characters are Hugh and Raymond, who arrive together off a prison ship bound for Australia. Hugh, a thief, is suspicious of the welcoming and open society of Dinotopia while Raymond, the son of the late ship's surgeon, is much more accepting of society, despite grieving his father. The characters are well developed, but I found myself wishing for more female characters. I think there are only four female characters in the entire book and only one of which is a recurring character, which wounds me. You can travel to a hidden society filled with Dinosaurs, but you can't include girls? Sorry man, not buying it.

The prose is simple, being children's literature, but not unpleasant to read. I sat and read it in one sitting with no trouble and found it to be fairly enjoyable. If you like the concept of a society where dinosaurs and humans live in peace (for the most part, though they don't touch much on carnivorous dinosaurs in this one), this book is worth a read.

Dinotopia

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