InvestiGators

Well.. I didn't get to read this book until AFTER my eight year old son had swiped it and disappeared for half a day! The cover and title had him hooked instantly, and the brightly coloured comic strip and written story kept his engagement through to the end. If you need to grab the attention of reluctant but able readers then this is definitely the book you need, and has passed my son's test with flying colours! We're now eagerly awaiting the release of the next book.

The Investigators (two witty alligators) are on an undercover mission to find out what happened to Chef Gustavo and make sure his secret recipes are safe. With endless jokes, play on words, action, comedy and advanced technological inventions (including chocolate microchips, thingamasteves and a toilet-based way of travelling), this will have every reader hanging off every page, not wanting to put the book down!

This book is a graphic novel, something that shouldn't be shied away from or discouraged, as it is a valuable experience for any child. Offering an alternative to the standard narrative text, graphic novels can engage reluctant readers, give confidence to struggling readers who find full sentences challenging, increase inference skills, develop and extend vocabulary and widen reading exposure of genres.

This text would be great as a class reader or for individual enjoyment. Possible activities to reinforce the text could be creating their own comic strip, stopping midway and planning the ending, writing character descriptions, creating and explaining new technological inventions. It would also be a great text to introduce speech and to link with drama activities.

208 pages / Reviewed by Maria Faithorn, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 7+