Hi there, this week’s review is of an adventure trilogy I enjoyed featuring an interesting pair of twins. One of the many things that fascinate me is the history of words and these three books answer some of the questions that used to puzzle me. Hope you find some nuggets of wisdom too!!
Title: The Curious Dictionary, The Lost Hunters, War of the Word Hunters
Author: Nick Earls
Illustrator: Terry Whidborne
Genre: Fiction – contemporary
Publication details: University of Queensland; Australia, 2012 & 2013
What the books are about: The Curious Dictionary starts off introducing readers to the most different pair of twins you can think of: Lexi and Al Hunter. They have almost nothing in common – except for their parents and their birthday. At school Lexi hangs out with their friends in the cool crowd, while Al hides in the library reading about history, battles, and faraway places. When they stumble upon an old dictionary in their local library, their world as they know it changes. They find themselves tumbling back into history, hunting down words that threaten to vanish from the past and present. Their lives and the future of the the world are at stake. Even though it goes against everything they know, Lexi and Al need to depend on each other in order to survive. The Lost Hunter continues Lexi and Al’s literary adventures with a startling realization: their missing grandfather is a word hunter too, and has been lost in the past. It’s up to the twins to save him. As they search for their grandfather through history, they face more battles, more action and rescue more words. The final battle finds the twins in the third and last instalment, War of the Word Hunters. Lexi, Al, and their friends are ready to face the grey-robes in the impending war. Their journey has been hard, but they have trained night and day to meet their arch enemy. Will they be able to defeat him and save the English language?
My review: You would never look at words or a dictionary the same again after reading this series. A truly quirky set of books; it took me through a mashup of historical events. You get to meet an eccentric cast of characters and learn more English words than you bargained for. I found myself actually researching some of the words myself and was pleasantly amused at how accurate some historical accounts were!! Our main characters, the Hunter twins, are a fascinating pair and we get to see them grow as individuals and together as the books progress. Peppered with delightful illustrations by the talented Terry Whidborne, this series will fascinate even the fussiest reader. So go ahead and give the Word Hunters a try; you will not regret it!!
My rating: 4 ⭐
I must add here that I have had a fascination for adventure series featuring twins for a while. I stumbled upon this series after reading a several other adventure stories with twins in them. If you are interested in those early books then here is a list of authors and titles you might enjoy reading after Word Hunters!
The storm makers by Jennifer E. Smith – An ordinary summer turns exciting and perilous for twins Ruby and Simon when strange weather starts wreaking havoc on their family farm.
Loot by Jude Watson – The first installment in an exciting series about twin cat-burglars, March and Jules!
Eye Spy by Tessa Buckley – Twins Alex and Donna set up Eye Spy Investigations in an attempt to earn some money and end up tangled up in mysteries and cases, some a bit too close to home.
The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr – The best-selling adventure series starring John and Philippa Gaunt, the next generation of djinn in their family. This is an adventure series like no other!!
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 