Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this book in order to review it, however, the review is my honest opinion.

Tigeropolis – Caught in the Trap

R D Dikstra has produced a series of novels about a family of vegetarian Tigers living in the foothills of the Himalayas and the many adventures they have.  Caught in the Trap is the third book in the series.

Being an avid reader, I have always wanted my children to have the same passion for reading.  I faced a few additional barriers though as one son is blind and another has hydrocephalus and autism.  Finding material they wanted to read was a challenge.  For my youngest son, who is blind, we started with books on Pink Floyd or The Beatles, as he is a huge huge fan of both (and as a mother, this makes me intensely proud), and for my eldest son, we looked at lots of book about cars (so you can ask me the BHP of most models and I will be able to tell you).  Alongside these factual books, we read lots of the classics at bedtime – Far away Tree, Famous Five, etc and slowly, they started to embrace works of fiction.

I was determined that reading would be something they wanted to do rather than something they had to do.  I also wanted them to learn about the world through books, but not always encyclopaedia type books.

These books are perfect.  Although they are aimed at 7-11 year olds, my children (aged 13 and 14)  thoroughly enjoyed reading (or screen reading) the escapades of Bittu and Matti, the two younger members of the family.

Let’s be honest, is there any child who does not love the idea of a tiger driving a tuk tuk or elephant poo mortar shells?

For my son, the tuk tuk was a huge hit – especially as facts on the speed it could achieve were mentioned.  He found the idea of a tiger driving a tuk tuk through the forest highly entertaining.  We also discussed what would be a better option than a petrol powered car in the forest.

We all got caught up in the drama of Bittu and Matti trying to escape and then capture the poachers.  It was so easy to start conversations about the damage poachers create and why we need to stop them.  Being able to teach them about the world outside of Kent in a fun way but with a serious message was fantastic.

By the end of the book, my children were ready to move into Tigeropolis as Forest Guards.

The book describes a whole array of animals and seeing them all using their skills together to try to capture the poachers was another conversation starter about team work and the power of working together.  It also helped us to chat about how each animal was different but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be part of a team.  They all had skills and talents that, with some proper thought, made them an asset to any plan.

This book wasn’t just a hit with the kids, I thoroughly enjoyed it too.  It felt a bit like when the Harry Potter novels first landed and we all started reading them but tried to hide the cover so people on the tube didn’t know we were reading a book for children.  I loved the personalities of the animals and loved watching them come together to achieve a goal.

It’s not very often a book starts so many discussions.  This has been a firm favourite and I am about to order the previous two books – for the kids, honestly.