The Magic Cutlass

Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs

by Giles Andreae

During the school play, Flinn finds himself slap-bang on the deck of a real-live pirate ship . . . and he's not alone! Pirate Diplodocus, Pirate Triceratops, Pirate Stegosaurus and, of course, his old arch-enemy, Captain T. Rex, are all there too. They are all on the hunt for the famous magic cutlass that can grant wishes - WATCH OUT, CAPTAIN FLINN! But you have to be careful what you wish for, and that dastardly Captain T. Rex soon finds himself in more trouble than ever!

Genres: Childrens, Dinosaurs

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Giles Andreae is the author of several children's books, including the best-selling Giraffes Can't Dance, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. He is the creator of Purple Ronnie, one of the most successfully licensed cartoon characters in his native England.

Giles lives with his wife and three children in Notting Hill, England.

Reviews

[Graeme Syed]

I enjoyed this book. It a fast moving adventure that joins pirates and dinosaurs in a good creative way. The story is simple enough. Flinn and co. are kidnapped during a school play by Captain T. Rex who wants Flinn to retrieve a magic cutlass for him. He does so and what follows is battle and mayhem. Flinn and his gang win the day and make Captain T. Rex walk the plank. As he does he swiftly calls his mummy who comes and tells him off for picking on people smaller than himself.

Russell Ayto's illustrations are quite captivating and the text is also really well illustrated for effect. This makes it a very interesting book to look at with children as the text accentuates the sentiment of whatever is going on at that particular point in the story. I think this would be a good book to help year 2/3s to develop their intonation and expression in reading. It would also in my view be just as good for reception and year 1 as a story book, but again expect children to want to see the pictures.

[Jacinda]

Love the series