The Talking T. Rex

A to Z Mysteries #20

by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

Talking book a to a mysteries

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, 2nd Grade, Audiobook, Juvenile

86 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Ron Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the popular A to Z Mysteries®, Calendar Mysteries, and Capital Mysteries. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach tricks to his dog Pal, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books.

Reviews

[Stephanie | Books_and_Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this with my 9 year old and he loved it. He kept trying to guess who was the thief who stole the duffle bag full of money. I could see his mind working through details and clues with each chapter. Great book!!

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my six year old in one sitting. She lives this series. Four stars because it held my daughter’s attention for one big read.

As an adult reader, I always want a bit more from these stories. In this instance, I really wanted to know more about the thief’s motivation. I was disappointed in the character and wanted an explanation! Oh well, I’m not the intended audience. Maybe I can write my own fan fiction to this one.

[Deepthi Herga · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 7 - year old has finished the entire set of the A to Z mysteries (including all the super editions). I started reading them because I wanted to find out how good these mysteries are and after I started, I finished the entire set myself. This will be a common review for all the books in the set (so please forgive me if you see this repeated under another book).

First of all, the mystery part of the book is fairly simple for an adult, but I can see how it can keep a kid engrossed. The characters are playful, around the same age as my kid now, so are very relatable. Yes, there are some characteristics which can be a little irritating, but they didn't really bother me too much as to take away from the stories. The other con is that these little kids are left unmonitored in many of their adventures (I am not a helicopter parent, but it felt a little strange, especially when they are out of the country altogether).

That being said, now what I loved about the stories -

1) Most of the stories are based in different cities, and sometimes different countries, so the travel perspective is amazing. We, as a family, love to travel and every time the kids in the books traveled somewhere it made the story more exciting to me (as well as my kid). My kid had comments on how they went to Key West and later Washington D.C "just like us".

2) There are strong characters of both genders, the villains are of different genders as well, so the stereotyping is considerably less (there was a female pilot in one of the books that stood out to me) and I love it that girls reading the books have some good role models. I would always like more female strong characters shown ofcourse :).

I'm sure my kids will be enjoying many more of the author's books in the future :)

[Blue · Rating 1 out of 5]

The mystery and characters were not bad in this book, but I found it more predictable. Unlike what impressed me about the first book, this one fell into giving details that clearly gave away the culprit by virtue of all details being important when there is no room for fluff.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one actually kept me guessing a little bit. While it might have been somewhat obvious who did it, there were enough red herrings to make you doubt yourself. Also, some nice thrilling moments in a giant T.Rex. A win all the way around for fans of the series!

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Owen: I liked the way the T-Rex looked. Also, how easy the mystery was to solve.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best of the series that's for sure.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We're working our way through the A to Z Mysteries and although this wasn't our favorite, it was a good book. A former character from "The Ninth Nugget" returns with an almost-life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex that he and his friends are bringing to schools around the country to raise money for their museum. When their money is stolen, it's up to Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose to help solve the case.

[Pamela Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The A to Z Mysteries series has been around for a long time but this is the first one that I've actually read. Reminds me a little of Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J Sobol that I read in Middle School.
The book is a thin chapter book -- only 87 pages and includes a few illustrations.

I like the three main characters and they seem to get along with everyone from young siblings, to just out of college age, to older adults. And the three are very smart and brave as they dig up clues to who stole the fundraising money for the dinosaur museum.

And if you needed something else to like about this book -- its Tyrone the Dinosaur -- a large dinosaur that travels around on exhibit making money for the museum -- until the money is stolen making a cleaver mystery for the three friends to solve. And there are just enough clues that if you are reading closely enough -- you can solve it too !!!

A quick read -- I'll have to grab another one since there are 26 books -- one for each letter of the alphabet -- A reader note in the front of the book -- "Your books are the coolest. I wish there were 1,000 letters in the alphabet!" -- Laura T

[Varsha Seshan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before picking up The Talking T-Rex, I wondered whether it would be a scary book–that’s what the cover leads us to believe. But it’s not! We know from the very beginning that the T-rex is a machine; in fact, we first see it before it is assembled. The mystery revolves around the T-rex, yes, but it’s about who stole money from the T-rex’s belly. It isn’t about a T-rex going rogue!
I liked it enough to read it with my book club. Here are some activity ideas - https://www.varshaseshan.com/the-talk...

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read these books when I was a kid and greatly enjoyed them, figured I'd give them a second read for kicks.

I certainly recommend any young mysteries fan devote time to this series, it's certainly a grand adventure for a young mind, the imagery of Ron Roy's words and his settings and unique character descriptions and personalities really help kids imagine a whole movie in their heads as they read each exciting page.

[Elina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I thought it was going to be boring cuz I'm not very interested in dinosaurs. But anyway on to the story so there's a man named Jud. And in another book Ruth Rose and Josh plus dink helped him. So he made a surprise for Rose Josh and Dink the surprise was a talking T-rex it was not real. And then the next day the money they made for doing that show went but how where when why. Read the book to find out.

[Katie Merkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Jud Wheat, who we met in "The Ninth Nugget," comes to Greenlawn...and he brings a T-rex with him. One thing I love about this series are the strong friendships and positive child-adult relationships. If your 1st-2nd grader likes dinosaurs and mysteries, I think he/she will like this book.

[Austin Ajit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth ,Josh and Dink "s friend Jud have came to the town with a robotic T rex to teach children about dinosaurs .After some time they will return to hometown and the use the money they made from taking the lessons to create the Dinosaur museum and the T rex will be the main attraction.But their money get stolen .Can they find the theif ? Surprise read it ........

[Hairdryer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5. It was just ok. I managed to find the one who stole the money but that's only because it's a childern's book - it was nice following the clues, it was a nice hour of reading with my cat on me. I liked the characters but I felt like it was too short and too linear. Again, this is a kid's book, so it's perfectly fine!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s better than a talking dinosaur? A mystery. When old friend Josh comes to visit, he brings a talking tyrannosaurus and a robbery. Who stole the money from the dinosaurs belly? Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rosec are on the case. As always, the tale is tightly written and engaging. This series is not for children alone. Any adult looking for a break from every day life will enjoy these mysteries.

[Hikari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dink, Josh, Ruth Roses’ old friend is coming to Green Lawn. They are bringing a dinosaur and doing dinosaur show at Greene Lawn To raise money For the museum in the Montana. But after the show, the monies got stolen! It was supposed to be inside the dinosaur’s leg case, but the door was open. It was over $10 million. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose try to find the money for the museum in Montana.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jud Wheat brings his talking T.Rex to Green Lawn to earn money to build a museum, the duffel bag where he kept the money earned is stolen, it's up to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to help their friend locate the missing money, and catch the thief who stole it

[L.E. Fidler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiona: it was good but at the end, things just started happening so fast and it wasn’t as good anymore. He needed to work on the pacing.

Liam: it was okay. It was more boringer than some of the others tho.

Regan: I liked it until the end where everything just happened...you know?

[Joyce T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting, to say the least.

-- This is a series review. --

I love this series. The kids are solving real mysteries around their neighborhood (as opposed to their siblings), and they find out things that the adults couldn't.

-- End series review --

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

yum food

I figured it out before josh did but he gets all the credit! Just kidding. Like the others this is a fun book. It’s pretty easy to figure it since there are only 3 possible suspects but still good.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of a talking t-rex. Fun, quick mystery.

[Baconator]

Great for younger children, well written with developmental skills in mind.

[Avery Denault · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how it was about a T. rex.

[Pranav · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Dean was talking on microphone and opening the mouth from the computer in Tyrano it looked like Tyrano was himself talking

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose help track down the thief who stole a bag full of money.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Dink Duncan, Josh Pinto, Ruth Rose Hathaway, and Ron Roy, for the childhood memories. These books helped me to become a lifelong reader and lover of mysteries.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dink, Ruth Rose and Josh help their old friend Jud with a T-Rex display

[Nettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this series with my son and we are really enjoying it 🙂