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Wonderfully illustrated and highly informative, this natural history journal's guide to Madagascar is sure to thrill and please.
Mr. Robert's Madagascar: A Tale of a Lost World is a story of the founding of an unknown land—Madagascar—by Diogo Dias and encountering its bizarre wildlife. Diogo Dias was a Portuguese explorer and captain for one of Vasco de Gama's Second Armada ships. The book begins when Dias' ship is blown off course and separated from the fleet. He is not sure if the remaining crew will last because they have been decimated by the storm and disease. However, the call "Land, ho!" on August 10, 1500, breaks the early morning silence and gives them hope. Guided by Dias' purported ship's logbook, readers follow the mariners' adventure as they began exploring the island and confronting the incredible plants and animals of the southeast beach and nearby lush and perilous lowland rainforest habitat. Madagascar is the home of many species found nowhere else in the world. History, physical and natural science, and reading comprehension are blended into this Wilderness Habitat Discovery Journal to introduce readers to a notable wildlife habitat.
Oh, to describe this book. How shall I do it?
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I love that this is geared to kids. I love that there’s a short little story that frames it, and I love that there’s so much knowledge packed into its short pages. It’s all so interesting and fun and intriguing that I found myself falling in love with this book immediately.
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It’s also so very pretty. I don’t think there’s a single page that isn’t gorgeously illustrated, the typography serving a role in this as well. From beautiful drawings of animals and plants to a format that informs as well as challenges, this entire book is like an actual natural history journal.
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I also really appreciated the inclusion of Madagascar’s native population in the book. While Diego Dias may have founded it as a colony, the inclusion of the native population in a way that highlights their intelligence and knowledge shows children that the island wasn’t completely uninhabited, and that there was still a lot of knowledge to be gained via communication.
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And there is so much knowledge. The book is so chock full of it that Robert takes to creating little sticky notes and reading exercises to provide and test the knowledge inside. Each of the notes created, also known as Curator Notes (CN), is highly informative while being short and to the point. I think this is well done, given that it takes the most essential information and presents it in a way that kids can understand. It’s awesome.
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That said, I do think it was a bit jumbled. Did this take away from my reading experience? Not really. It was perfectly fine for me, but it might be distracting for kids.
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Other than that, I think this book is brilliant. I think kids who love natural history (and some adults too) can find something in this book to love and appreciate. As an adult who’s often a kid at heart, I certainly did.
Reviewed by
A lifelong reader, I've decided to share my opinions, my likes and my loves with the world. Fantasy and science fiction have long been passions of mine, but so has bringing minority voices to the forefront.
Synopsis
Mr. Robert's Madagascar: A Tale of a Lost World is a story of the founding of an unknown land—Madagascar—by Diogo Dias and encountering its bizarre wildlife. Diogo Dias was a Portuguese explorer and captain for one of Vasco de Gama's Second Armada ships. The book begins when Dias' ship is blown off course and separated from the fleet. He is not sure if the remaining crew will last because they have been decimated by the storm and disease. However, the call "Land, ho!" on August 10, 1500, breaks the early morning silence and gives them hope. Guided by Dias' purported ship's logbook, readers follow the mariners' adventure as they began exploring the island and confronting the incredible plants and animals of the southeast beach and nearby lush and perilous lowland rainforest habitat. Madagascar is the home of many species found nowhere else in the world. History, physical and natural science, and reading comprehension are blended into this Wilderness Habitat Discovery Journal to introduce readers to a notable wildlife habitat.
About the author
Robert Bullock's students and staff at Liaocheng University, Shandong China, called him Mr. Robert. He previously worked on interpretative exhibits at the New York's American Museum, Yale's Peabody Museum, and Pennsylvania’s State Museum, which house renown dioramas, the inspiration for his books. view profile
Published on April 25, 2022
5000 words
Genre: Nature
Reviewed by
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