Stormasaurix by Mac Park

cover image

Boy vs Beast: Battle of the Mutants. Pop and Fizz/Scholastic Australia, 2011. ISBN 978 1921684296.
First thought - this reminds me of a computer game! A good tactic to encourage young boys to read!
Beast vs. Boy Stormasaurix is aimed at independent readers aged 7 to 9 years and uses short sentences to help make keep meaning clear and to give a sense of excitement. The large font is also a good way to encourage young readers to try reading a short novel as it makes it seem like there isn't a lot to read. Pop and Fizz and Scholastic have used black and white illustrations which show the cards of different beasts as well as other computer style images such as controllers, communication devices and secret lairs. Part of the text even uses a comic strip to explain what happens.
Our story begins with a prologue, introducing any new readers to the background information they might need to help understand the storyline of the series. We meet young Kai Masters, a border guard who defends the human world against the different beast worlds. In this book, he  is headed for the Wind Land. Kai is in training to become a border captain and the more battles he wins, the more battle gear he collects (hence my computer connection). Kai and his dogbot, BC3, head off on this mission to stop the chaos in the Beast Worlds but let's hope he has chosen the correct battle gear as he flies in to confront wild dust storms, rock birds and a new mutant beast - the Stormasaurix.
Kylie Kempster

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