In the1800's, Arthur and his son Will find themselves washed ashore on an island after their shipwrecks. This island is named Dinotopia where there are dinosaurs, cities, and people find new ways to fly. They each go on their own separate ways seeking adventure around the island and unfolding all the mysteries that it holds. For a teacher to have this in their class can appeal to students who are in favor of dinosaurs. Maybe a student can find a connection and get lost in the adventures with the characters where it can be encouraged for them to have a series to cintune reading. ( )

What?

How did I not know this was a book?

I remember this book fondly from my childhood, although I also remember being slightly scared by some of the illustrations -- the gorgeous paintings and carefully detailed renditions of animals and landscapes. ( )

Just entirely enjoyable with lovely illustrations. A descendant of "The Lost World", but in its Utopian outlook, original. ( )

Summary

Dinotopia is a wonderfully illustrated book about a world where dinosaurs live in harmony with humans. The book starts off with a father and his son, saved by the dolphins, shipwrecked on a beach. They soon find out that this beach is part of an island which supports the life of dinosaurs. For the first half of the book our narrator is Arthur Denison, father of Will Denison, who, with the help of his son, discovered a group of dinosaurs and is led to "The Egg Hatchery" by a girl named Sylvia. The book then shows some of it's amazing illustrations of The Egg Hatchery's various items/appliances such as the; guest bed, the "dinosaur nannies", and the Hatchery itself. After this, Arthur and Will leave after their short stay at The Egg Hatchery to go to Waterfall City, where they must go to to register their arrival and learn about this Dinotopia. Along the way they stop at a city called Pooktook, which yet again has a beautiful illustration of the city's streets and other little parts of the city. Arthur and Will then meet Lee Crabb, who believes that Dinotopia is a prison and a "terrible place". He takes them to the town of Volcanium where they meet Tok, who also believes that Dinotopia is a prison. There, they also meet a Skybax Rider, who informs them that Waterfall City is ready to welcome them. After seeing the Skybax Rider, Will was determined to become one. They are accompanied to Waterfall city by Bix, a Protoceratops. Once getting to the city, they learn so much more about the Dinotopian culture. Will even learned the Dinotopian alphabet. After two years living in Waterfall City, Arthur and Will decided to leave for Treetown for the annual journey to the Habitat Conference. It took a week to prepare for the journey. They then met the leaders of the various areas of Dinotopian territory, such as, Oolu and Lightwing, Bracken and Fiddlehead, and Moraine and Bigtusk to name a few. After the convention they continued north to Treetown where they stayed for a while. Will decided he wanted to compete in the Dinosaur Olympics, held each year in a settlement called Cornucopia. Will won with his trio of, himself, Sylvia, and Claw (a Deinocheirus). This victory ensured their going to Canyon City to become Skybax Riders. Soon after this they departed for Canyon City. The book then illustrates the chasm-like city of Canyon City at a great angle, showing the extent of how long this canyon goes. Will is then taught by Oolu how to fly. While in a lesson, Oolu spoke of a "World Beneath" which intrigued Arthur very much. Arthur then set out to go to the "World Beneath" shortly after, while Will continued his Skybax training. The Narrator then switches to Will, as Arthur is in the "World Beneath". Will, to complete his Skybax training, must climb the mountains in search of "The Tentpole of the Sky". Sylvia accompanied him, as she is also seeking to become a Skybax Rider. After setting off, they made it to a village "shared by humans and large mammals" which was their first goal. After another long day of climbing, they finally made it to the "Tentpole" and met a man named Levka Gambo, who took them inside to rest for a few days. Afterwards they boarded the Sky Galley, an airship that supplies the "Tentpole", to get back home to Canyon City. Because of the rough weather, the Sky Galley crashed and they had to head to Sauropolis, the nearest city. One of the officials of the city approached Will and Sylvia, informing them that Arthur and Bix were here. She showed them the vessel Arthur and Bix came from, which was a primitive submarine. Once their Skybaxes came back for them, they flew to Waterfall City, where they met up with Bix and Arthur and recollected their separate adventures.

My Opinions

This was a great read for me, as I really love "what if" scenarios made into stories. Of course, similar to all reviews of this book, I thought the illustrations were beautiful. The art really helped to immerse the reader and was remarkably creative. The story was pretty good, but it was only solidified more by the illustrations (how many times am I going to say illustrations in this review?) which really fleshed out the world that the book showed us. The characters, unlike the story, were very bland, you probably could replace them with cardboard boxes and the book would be pretty much the same. However, this book certainly had it's main focus on the world it created and not the characters, who were really just the readers' eyes in this world. When I checked, there were many more books expanding and building upon the foundation this book laid for this universe, so I'm hoping that even more of this world is explored than it just being more of the same thing. Overall, this was a good book, I would recommend it to anybody looking for some interesting ideas and places, and it get's a 4/5 because it's good but could be better. ( )