Armando and the Amazing Animal Race by Diana Schaffter
This post is sponsored by Diana Schaffter. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views.
About the Book:
Two unlikely teammates on a grueling continent-hopping race. Their mission: to photograph 7 endangered animals in just 70 days… and solve a baffling family mystery.
When twelve-year-old Armando stumbles on his mother’s old race journal and convinces his wacky grandmother to join the Amazing Animal Race—the same race his mother disappeared on eight years earlier—his summer explodes into a wild global adventure. Armed with night vision goggles, bear spray, and support from his tech-savvy friend Jinny, Armando faces a charging polar bear, poachers’ bullets, and ruthless rivals as he races across the icy Arctic to the steamy Amazon rainforest. What starts as a race to help endangered animals and the environment spirals into a treacherous quest to unravel a mystery that will change Armando’s family—and his life—forever.
Packed with thrilling action, laugh-out-loud moments, and unforgettable characters, Armando and the Amazing Animal Race takes readers on a whirlwind journey of self-discovery across the globe. This heart-warming tale of family, mystery, and wildlife conservation will inspire adventurers, both young and old, to see the world and themselves in a whole new light.
Review:
The target age for this book is 8-12 but I believe children a few year older will love it also. I really enjoyed following Armando and his incredible grandma on a race to take pictures of 7 endangered animals spread all over the world. Armando has a special connection to this race because his mother went missing while on this race several years ago.
The book is ideal for middle readers because it has several maps (all great books have maps!!) and the reader learns about the endangered animals as the duo searches for them. A little education mixed in with a great story is always a good idea!! Other important themes included learning to be confident, family, and determination. At the end of the book there are discussion questions perfect for a book club or reading with your kids. The book also includes mixed media with letters and signs with interesting information. The story is easy to read and I, as an adult, didn’t want to put it down!
Giveaway:
About the Author:
Diana Schaffter is no stranger to adventure. She is fluent in Thai, has traveled to over fifty countries, raised her two sons overseas, and lived in seven countries in Asia and Eastern Europe for forty-two years, including two years in Pyongyang, North Korea, where her husband was the head of the UNICEF office. Diana has worked with Cambodian refugees, taught in international schools, opened schools in Thailand and Vietnam, and has been an educational consultant to non-governmental organizations and the Ministry of Education in Laos.
In researching her story, she followed in the footsteps of her main character, Armando, traveling to Southern India to search for wild cobras with the Irula tribe, to Vladivostok, Russia, to see a Siberian tiger with a local conservationist, to the home of the elusive desert leopard in the Judean desert in Israel; and into the thick Brazilian Amazon rainforest to visit an Indigenous tribe and to photograph a pied tamarin monkey. Wherever she has lived, Diana has witnessed it the power of human resilience, cooperation, and caring, which inspires her writing. Diana and her co-adventurer husband, Tim, now live in Sidney, BC, Canada, where she continues to write, give talks in schools and communities, and work with young people.
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