The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur - Secret Agent Jack Stalwart Book 1

My 2nd grader little boy's first chapter book. He devoured it in no time and I had to remind him his bedtime over and over, many nights. He already has started to read the 2nd book in the series. Very well written and very captivating for a 7 year old boy.

Though there are some mystery series available for young kids, there are no secret agent or spy series. And this one is great. It can be read aloud to young kids or by themselves for early elementary aged children. Our son loves identifying with Jack, a young child who belongs to the GPF - Global Protection Force - a super secret international agency, whose detectives are all young. And the books are complete with all the super "high-tech" gadgets one would expect from a James Bond type series set for a much younger crowd. (In fact, for adults, the series is a bit of a spoof of the adult James Bond version.) The books are not meticulously researched like the Magic Tree House series. The educational component consists of introducing children to different parts of the world. As a parent, I've enjoyed reading them to my 7 yr old son (and they made a great follow up to a visit to the International Spy Museum in Washington DC). For the most part though, these books are really, really fun reading in a an action, spy, secret agent genre that is not otherwise available for kids. I have the next two books on pre-order and can't wait for them to come in! We've even started gifting them for birthday parties.

My son reads everyday...for school! Great..wonderful..but I so wanted him to LOVE to read and he didn't...UNTIL...Secret Agent Jack Stalwart stepped onto the scene! He sat down in his new reading chair (yes, I have tried everything..including making a special area and chair for him to begin to love reading) and cracked it open. He was hooked from the first page! He read the entire book in less than 2 hours and was so pleased with himself he brought it to our coop and told everyone (even his skater friends) about his accomplishment!! It is well below his reading ability, but obviously not below his level of enjoyment. Hey...I like a good easy read sometimes too! So thanks to the author. This series has opened my sons mind to reading in a way no other book has been able to. Many thanks. Courage and God Speed Jack Stalwart...Until the next adventure.

This book is fantastic! When my son was telling me about it, he gave me more details and descriptions of what happened than any other book he's read. He was reading it and would go "do you know what happened now, Mom?" We just ordered the next two books and hope they are just as good!