Digging to the Center of the Earth

Adventures of Wishbone #17

by Michael Anthony Steele, Rick Duffield

When he uncovers a mysterious metal object while digging in the front yard, Wishbone imagines himself as Professor Otto Lidenbrock who attempts to discover the center of the earth by leading an expedition into the crater of an Icelandic volcano. Inspired by "A Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne, this adventure finds Wishbone imagining that he's a professor who discovers a clue that actually points the way to an incredible journey and finds himself facing giants, dinosaurs, and raging waters as his group travels deep beneath the surface of the Earth

Genres: Childrens, Animals

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Michael Anthony Steele is an author and screenwriter living in Dallas, Texas. He’s written for a wide variety of entertainment and educational properties from Barney & Friends to the novelization of the recent film, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He’s written over 60 licensed books for such major properties as Shrek, Penguins of Madagascar, Wordgirl, The Batman, Garfield, Spider-man, Speed Racer, Winx Club, Sly Cooper, and many more. Anthony’s television experience begins with the award-winning PBS series Wishbone and carries him all the way to writing 25 episodes of Barney & Friends and 4 DVDs of Boz: The Green Bear Next Door.

Between writing projects, Anthony is thrilled to give presentations to schools and libraries across the country. Having been fortunate enough to write for so many famous brands, his appearances require very little preparation on the part of the instructors because, most likely, the kids are fans of one or more of the properties for which he’s written.

Anthony’s current presentation features multimedia elements and tells the story of how he became a writer—following an exciting path through a career in photography and special effects. His appearances have been described as the “rock-n-roll” author visits since he comes with an animated presentation, humor, audio/visual elements, loads of energy, and a guitar—that’s right, a guitar!

His life’s journey has given him unique experience and the ability to share behind-the-scenes knowledge, tell stories, and answer questions not only about writing but also about the film and television industry. More importantly, the main theme of his program is how, with hard work and determination, the students can achieve anything they wish. Anthony was in elementary school when he was first inspired to become a writer and they too can get inspired right now! It’s just that simple and exciting!

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the episode it was based on; no joke.

[Saphraneet · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Adventures of Wishbone books are clever, imaginative ways of introducing classics to children. I like to read them myself and then read the actual classics they are based on. Hopefully young readers would be encouraged to do the same.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Wishbone book and my very first one. I still have the same copy I had as a kid. I've read so many times and I still love it.