The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by: Mike Thaler

This was a very entertaining novel by Mike Thaler. It was all about a class trip that a little boy was going to take. For almost half the book it just builds the trip up and talks about how much fun the trip is going to be even though he doesn't know where they are going or what they are going to do. Then when finally find out where they are going the story gets really wild. They go on quite a voyage in an airplane and then they parachute then they trudge through the jungle. The author does a really good job of giving the reader a visual image of what's going on and what everything looks like. He also uses word play throughout the book that is very original and makes it more interesting to read. He plays on things like Pizza Mutt instead of Pizza Hut and when talking about watching for animal droppings he says hippo-potty-mess. These kinds of things can help keep children interested in reading the book and makes it more fun for them. I really do think children in elementary school would enjoy this book because I know I enjoyed reading it and thought it was entertaining. The best part is the creativity and imaginativeness involved with the book. First of all because of the child in the book's imagination and more importantly because it gives good cues and prompts to get the reader to imagine what it would be like. I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it!