Dino Riders:
How To Tame a Triceratops & How To Rope a Giganotosaurus By Will Dare
Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Date: 1 April 2017
What is there not to love about dinosaurs, now that they are extinct that is… Author Will Dare brings dinosaurs alive again and makes them seem even more lovable in both ‘ How to Tame a Triceratops’ and ‘ How to Rope a Giganotosaurus’ . Even though the dinosaurs are fun and sometimes cheeky in the books, the most lovable character is Josh Sanders who is a mischievous, fun, idea flowing, and loyal Dinoboy (Cowboy but with Dinosaurs). Along with his friends Sam and Abi they spend most of their days keeping dinosaurs safe from mean guy Amos Wilks and his nasty sidekick Arthur.
I really like the main character Josh Sanders, especially the “sticky” situations he gets himself in (pooh squelching, dodgy dinos, Pterodactyl tricking, dino training, mushy, squishy situations). He displayed great courage, determination, worked hard to achieve what he wanted to and was generally the all round nice guy. It is positive that a character displays such good, strong qualities but their mishaps are also highlighted, teaching children that people have things they are great at and some things that challenge them.
Both the books are set in a period when dinosaurs were alive. Not all dinosaurs were friendly in the books but Josh and his friends always found a way to escape harm from the scarier ones. You’re probably wondering what harm there may have been, or if they managed to tame a triceratops but that I cannot tell…although I am happy to chat about it once you have read it of course!
I love these books. I spent an afternoon reading them from start to finish and knew straight away they were going to be a BIG hit for children. I can see this series becoming very popular for 7 year olds and above. I applaud Will Dare and his imagination for putting together such a fun series. Can’t wait for more!
Little Big Reads 