Published: 19th September 2018
Publisher: Green Rhino Media
Pages: 106
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction/Adventure
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
While exploring deep in the jungle, Jack Jones, his sister Emma and best buddy Albert uncover a hidden temple inside a cave that has been lost for centuries. To learn its secrets, they’ll have to cross piranha-filled rivers, creep past an ancient crypt, resolve a slithery situation, and find their way through a temple maze.
But as the cave starts to crumble around them, will they track down the ancient Book of the Gods and figure out a way to leave before they’re trapped forever?
Join Jack, his sister Emma and best buddy Albert as they work together to decode symbols to identify the newly-discovered temple, find a way inside, seek to locate an ancient relic that archaeologists have been searching for hundreds of years to find, and escape before the cave collapses around them.
Note: I received a copy of this book for review
Jack Jones and his friends are back for another exciting adventure. There is no real necessity to read these in any particular order, but there is slightly more detail and background given in The Pirate Treasure that may give some more indication of who these kids are. That’s not to say you aren’t given clues and context here either, but this story jumps straight into an adventure without much history.
I enjoyed this story. The Jack Jones books are classic adventure stories of finding lost temples and secret cities, hidden treasure and all the adventures reminiscent of the classic tales. Ideal for kids to go on the adventures alongside and something which brings out the adventurous spirit. The same sensibilities are evident for the kids and how and why they are allowed to explore. I felt the language was a bit more natural this time around regarding the manners and politeness. There is friendship and helping one another which is endearing, and Bingham demonstrates what kids are capable of achieving and the discovering on their own. He gives them an adventure of being independent and the freedom of taking chances, making mistakes, and getting messy.
The technology is there once again with Jack’s tablet, but that isn’t always there to help them, something which adds to the overall narrative. Despite the inclusion of technology, it also shows the kinds of adventures kids can have without technology. Even if we won’t all discover ancient temples, the act of exploring with friends is often an adventure in itself.
While Jack is the central character, I wanted a bit more from the other two like I’d seen in other stories. Albert and Emma have roles to play but in this story it felt like they were often there to push Jack along, Emma even more so than Albert. While there is not a lot of story to give time to extra information, seeing a bit more of these secondary characters would be great.
The stories all end with the kids succeeding and no one getting injured but there are still challenges on the way the kids must overcome. Seeing them be challenged and having to use logic and their minds are good examples for readers, especially for the younger kids.
You can purchase The Lost Temple via the following
Wordery | Angus & Robertson | Fishpond
Amazon | Amazon Aust | Publisher
Book Face Pacific Fair | Readings Kids
Lost in a Good Book 