Customer Reviews

On the Dog (Andrew Lost #1)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been teaching 2nd grade for a dozen years now, and have had lots of experience reading and evaluating books for children. This book presented some difficulty because it didn't lend itself well to being read aloud.

1) The dialogue is stilted with too many exclamation points and the sentences are artificially choppy. I understand the length of the sentences has to be short due to the target audience's reading level, but there should be more attention paid to the quality of the sentences.

2) The scientific facts included in the book are top-notch. Judith Greenburg did yeoman work in researching her facts. Unfortunately, much of the science is lost due to frantic action scenes and the choppy dialogue mentioned above.

3) One of the supporting characters is a robot named Thudd. Thudd speaks like a 2-year old. Thudd makes the diction used by Junie B. Jones appear to be of a collegiate level. When reading a book aloud to 2nd graders, I don't expect to have to explain what a character is saying because the character is talking like a baby.

I strongly disliked this book.

My 7 year-old son liked it a lot.

The bottom line is that it's more important for my 7 year-old to like what he's reading than it is for me to like it. I'll let my son read these at home, but I won't be using them in my classroom.

This book, as well as the others in the "Andrew Lost" series, is wonderful! I stumbled across it as a gift for my nephew, but decided to read it to my 6 & 8 year old sons. They loved it, and we have read the whole series. Andrew's adventures kept the boys interested and there was a whole lot of learning too. Because Andrew is shrunk to a level we don't normally see, we get an "up close" look at things thru his adventures. There is lots of science, like what the color of a bubble means and how an insect sees with its many eyes (and so much more!). The books are sufficiently "gross" to interest boys, but not so gross that I couldn't read them. In fact, I learned at least as much as they did. Really interesting stuff! The chapters are short and easy to read. We finished each book in 2-3 sittings. I highly recommend these books.

My son just adores this series. He reads a whole book in one day. After plowing through the Magic Tree House books, we searched and searched for another series to sustain him. He likes realism mixed in with fantasy. This series seems to be science mixed with fantasy, whereas Magic Tree House series is history mixed with fantasy. Not written for the adult reader, kids 7 and up will enjoy them!

My son (age 6 1/2) loves reading this series. He reads them to himself, he reads them to his siblings, he reads them to his grandparents. He can't get enough of them.

One suggestion is to purchase them in sets because although the stories are self-contained, there are aspects of them that are connected. For example the first fours books (1-4) deal with adventures involving a shrinking machine, the second set (5-8) deal with underwater pursuits.

Highly recommend!

This was a hard book to rate.

So first, the bad: The story line was not my favorite and, as an adult reader, there are just way too many exclamation points for me to read. No one's that excited!!! Also much of the dialogue drove me nuts...why a robot who knows everything talks like a caveman is beyond me. And, frankly, cute phrases that sound like grown-ups trying to write like kids give me that "put this book down!" feeling. The events are unconvincing and, in places, confusing.

However (the good): The pictures and science tidbits are very cool and I was a sucker for the cliffhanger ending. That was a fun way to end a first volume, but I'm not sure how fun it would be for volume 10.

I suspect my boy will like it when he's a bit older and I won't mind handing it to him to read.

I read this book with my kids. It was a fun story. However, the book ends with to be continued... I hated not having an ending to the story and I think my kids were disappointed too. I realize that it is meant to be a book series, but other books in a series still somewhat wrap up the book while continuing on with the storyline and characters. This book just leaves you hanging. I have no interest in reading the next book because it will most likely end the same way.

The sentences were too short. Not enough detail. The book was too short.
The sentences didn't have enough detail and it didn't paint a picture for the reader's minds.
The sentences were to short as well as the book and not enough details.
In my opinion, this book should be for the age range of 3-7yrs.
The sentences were too short and didn't have enough detail.
I didn't like it. Except for the cute puppy.

Andrew is a child genius inventor. His inventions take his cousin Judy and him on various adventures. Each adventure lasts four books (each book is almost always 75 pages) and it is possible to read adventures out of order. The books are filled with scientific facts: the author is an established biology children's textbook writer. I personally learned a lot of neat science from the books. Don't think these books are dry, Greenburg mixes in interesting facts throughout the adventure.

The Andrew Lost series has the potential to really turn a young child into a scientist. If you start reading aloud books like this early, age 4 and 5, you may grow a future scientist.

My 6-year old son is hooked on these stories, all of them! He likes them better than Magic Tree House. The science learning comes in fun and funny ways and is not so "obvious." You learn so much (adults included!) by seeing common things at the microscopic level.

The one problem I've had is that they mostly need to be read in order. I didn't realize that when we began in the middle with the book that looked most appealing to my child.

The Andrew Lost series of books is the best science fiction series for young readers I have ever found. I strongly recommend this for any child who is even vaguely interested in science fiction. To put it simply, if your child knows who Anakin Skywalker is, he or she should read the Andrew Lost series.

I have five children, and I have read a story to at least one of them most nights for over 20 years. I love childrens books, but it is hard to find books that the children can really connect to. My children love science fiction, but most science fiction is written for older children or adults. There are some examples of good science fiction for younger children, like Janet Azimov's Norby series, but they are nearly all written for older children, and I have not found books for younger children that are as fun, interesting, and educational as the Andrew Lost series.

I started out reading these to my son, who was in 2nd grade at the time. He soon started to read them himself. They were his favorite books for several months, until his reading level improved and he moved on to more difficult books. They truly helped him develop as a reader.

I recommend these books for every elementary school library, and for most homes with young children. At least read the first book in the series, Andrew Lost on the Dog. It won't take long, and it does not cost very much. I think you'll like what you find.