Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure
Grade 2 Up-- This book shares many problems with its predecessor, The Fantastic Flying Machine (S. & S., 1989). It's unfortunate, because the premise is good: a time machine whisks the Dollybutt children back to dinosaur days in search of Sir Jasper Collywobble, a crook who's stolen their original time machine in order to go game hunting in prehistoric times. Durrell's at his best when he sticks to straight naturalist writing--describing the flora of the Jurassic period, for example, as seen through the children's eyes. But his crossovers to fantasy--having dinosaurs speak, for instance, or having children able to name the dinosaurs by sight--seem maudlin and contrived. While readers get snippets of Durrell's talent as a writer, most of this tale (and its bland illustrations) never lives up even to the quirkiness of the Dollybutt name. Cliched illustrations of white children and a swarthy villain do little to counteract racial stereotypes. And on top of all this, when the Dollybutts finally return to the present, with dinosaur babies in tow, what do they do but use their prehistoric friends for endorsements of products on television ads! A crass ending to a sadly unsuccessful story. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public LibraryCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.