Mad Scientist Academy: The Dinosaur Disaster - Hardcover

McElligott, Matthew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553523740 ISBN 13: 9780553523744

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers, 2015

Synopsis

Handpicked by Amazon kids’ books editor, Seira Wilson, for Prime Book Box – a children’s subscription that inspires a love of reading.

Fans of Ada Twist, Scientist, will want to enroll in Dr. Cosmic's class of clever monsters at the Mad Scientist Academy as they solve the greatest challenges in science in this perfect blend of adventure and exploration.
 
Welcome to Mad Scientist Academy! The first day of school is always exciting, and Dr. Cosmic’s new students can’t wait to get started. After their teacher reveals that their school pet, Oscar, is a dinosaur, they quickly realize Dr. Cosmic has an unusual teaching style. To find Oscar, the class has to follow the clues through the realistic dinosaur exhibit Dr. Cosmic designed and built over the summer. But when a malfunction causes the robotic dinosaurs to come alive, this prehistoric exhibit feels a little too real!
 
“Dr. Cosmic is plainly a colleague of Ms. Frizzle, and the mix of pithy banter, tumultuous field-trip mishaps, and science fact is as familiar as it is winning. Fans of the Frizz will be dino-delighted. Mad fun.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Like Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen’s ‘Magic School Bus’ series (Scholastic), the use of a school setting, a quirky teacher, and wild hands-on learning situations provides an engaging blend of humor, adventure, and information.” —School Library Journal

“One of Summer’s Must-Read Children’s Books.” —Bookish.com

Kids’ Indie Next List

About this title

About the Author:

Matthew McElligott is the author of many books for children, including the Mad Scientist Academy series, Even Monsters Need Haircuts, and the Benjamin Franklinstein series. He has the brain of an Apatosaurus and the dashing good looks of a Pachycephalosaurus. In spite of this, a beautiful woman named Christy married him and now helps him with all his books. You can visit him at matthewmcelligott.com.

From School Library Journal:

K-Gr 3—The seven new students at Mad Scientist Academy include a werewolf, a robot, and other odd creatures; and the school is pretty strange, too. Appealing comic book art takes readers through the kids' first day, in which they receive an unusual, but informative introduction to the world of dinosaurs. Dr. Cosmic is their brilliant, sometimes bumbling, teacher, who leads the group through a highly interactive prehistoric exhibit. The students follow clues to solve a dinosaur puzzle, learning plenty along the way. Prehistoric facts are provided through the automated handbooks that each child receives, and when the mechanical dinosaurs become activated, the kids must use research and their own attributes to avoid danger and complete the assignment. The Frankenstein-ish "Ken," for example, uses his monstrous strength to tear down a tree that successfully tempts an Iguanodon into revealing a clue. Pencil, ink, and digital illustrations carry the story through effective use of panels, word balloons, and cartoonish drawings. Characters have distinct looks and expressions, lending specific personalities to each of the students. The illustrations provide a light tone aided by occasional humorous asides from the kids. Larger panels depict a Tyrannosaurus attack and other action scenes, while the informational segments are neatly set off as handbook entries. VERDICT Like Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen's "Magic School Bus" series (Scholastic), the use of a school setting, a quirky teacher, and wild hands-on learning situations provides an engaging blend of humor, adventure, and information.—Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville Public Library, OR

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0553523740
• ISBN 13: 9780553523744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40