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Banjo and Swift
Banjo and SwiftIn the vein of landmark television documentary and drama, Banjo and Swift tells the story of two dinosaurs in the prehistoric lands of Australia, siblings trying to navigate life in an unstable world lost to time. Inspired by recent discoveries over the past two decades, this story blends documentary and drama as it tells the gripping adventures of real animals that once roamed Australia's ancient forests.
135 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 17, 2025
Banjo and Swift are a pair of Australovenator brothers, striking out on their own for the first time. As with similar books like ‘Raptor Red’ or ‘Cretaceous Kings’, there is no real plot as such – it simply charts the dinosaurs going about their daily lives, hunting, seeking territory, finding mates and so on. It is certainly not “a vibrant and engaging narrative” as the synopsis claims, being very dry in tone, but it’s a fairly entertaining read if you’re a dinosaur fan.
Following each part of the story is an information section giving evidence for the events of the previous chapters. Whilst this was interesting, I did feel it disrupted the flow of the story somewhat – I’d have preferred these sections to be gathered together in an appendix at the end of the book.
The genus names of the featured animals are correctly capitalised, but are not italicised as they should be, and some other terms are incorrectly capitalised. There are a few typos, such as “teaming” used where “teeming” is meant and “east” used in place of “easy”. There are no indents at the beginnings of paragraphs, and the author uses digits instead of words for numbers even in the fictional parts of the book. (In a novel, numbers should be written out in full – “six metres”, not “6 metres”; “forty per cent”, not “40%”).
The name Banjo struck me as odd, but a little research reveals it was a nickname given to the holotype specimen of Australovenator (after Banjo Paterson, writer of ‘Waltzing Matilda’). It would have been nice if the book mentioned this, as without knowing about it you’re just left thinking: “Why is he named after a musical instrument that won’t be invented for millions of years?”
Following each part of the story is an information section giving evidence for the events of the previous chapters. Whilst this was interesting, I did feel it disrupted the flow of the story somewhat – I’d have preferred these sections to be gathered together in an appendix at the end of the book.
The genus names of the featured animals are correctly capitalised, but are not italicised as they should be, and some other terms are incorrectly capitalised. There are a few typos, such as “teaming” used where “teeming” is meant and “east” used in place of “easy”. There are no indents at the beginnings of paragraphs, and the author uses digits instead of words for numbers even in the fictional parts of the book. (In a novel, numbers should be written out in full – “six metres”, not “6 metres”; “forty per cent”, not “40%”).
The name Banjo struck me as odd, but a little research reveals it was a nickname given to the holotype specimen of Australovenator (after Banjo Paterson, writer of ‘Waltzing Matilda’). It would have been nice if the book mentioned this, as without knowing about it you’re just left thinking: “Why is he named after a musical instrument that won’t be invented for millions of years?”
June 26, 2021
I enjoyed this! It has story parts and parts devoted to explaining the science behind it, and I actually learned a thing or two about Australian dinosaurs and fauna. It has a few supplemental pictures, nothing fancy just enough to familiarize you with some of the creatures, it's definitely not a picture-book overall. It's an easy read that I think older children and adults alike would enjoy, or a clever younger child who doesn't mind a little dinosaur on dinosaur violence.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews