Review: Wright on Time Book One (Arizona)

Our family recently had an opportunity to read and review the first book of the "Wright on Time" series when author Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley sent me a copy.  We've been reading it over the past few weeks and it's a series that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Wright on Time:  Arizona is book one of a planned series of 50, one for each US State. In each book the Wright family travels by RV to a new State.  Their travels incorporate homeschool lessons that are played out in different adventures (Minnesota will be book five).

Book one of this series is dedicated to the state of Arizona.  The Wright children Nadia (11) and Aidan (7) are excited about their opportunity to explore a desert cave with their parents. Inside the cave the children learn about echoes, bats, minerals and even the difference between stalactites and stalagmites.  They also find a mysterious black device which will apparently be part of a mystery that will unfold during the series.

I read the book to my three oldest children, who are 6, 9 and 11, to a mixed reaction.  I expected my 6 year-old son to like the book best but he was often reluctant to sit and listen to it and asked to stop a lot, even though he usually loves books.  However, when it was all over he said he'd loved the book and wanted to read the next one. My 9 year-old daughter loved it and always asked to hear more, while my 11 year-old daughter liked it but was very annoyed by the frequent use of the word "freaky" (as in "freaky cool!" and "freaky awesome!") by the younger brother character, Aiden. 

Pros:

I liked the way homeschoolers were represented in this book.  The family is close and enjoys each other's company.  The kids are sweet and have their own interests and personalities (though Aiden can be a typical crazy-acting little brother that can get on nerves), and the adults are an important presence in the book (as opposed to many children's books where parents don't even seem to exist).  They were obviously a homeschool family, too, because learning was a natural part of their adventure and we learned along with them through their conversations and activities.  The author really did manage to teach quite a lot about caves, minerals, stalactites and bats in this short book.  She included a fact page about Arizona, too, though I didn't come away feeling that we had gotten much of an idea about the state itself in this book. 

Cons:

I did find the writing somewhat awkward at times, especially during dialog.  The book reminded me a lot of reading the Magic Treehouse series (in good and bad ways), although it didn't flow quite as easily.  I also found a grammatical error.  Like my oldest daughter, Aiden's overruse of the word "freaky" got on my nerves after a while, too.  Other homeschool mothers have also commented to me that the price is prohibitively high for many families, at $12.99 for a relatively short paperback book.

Overall:

While there were things that I think could be improved on, the series itself is a great idea with truly likeable characters and engaging story lines.  Children will learn something about different subjects in each book but they'll also have fun homeschooled kids to identify with, something that's sorely missing in fiction.  The kids are respectful to their parents and each other.  The mysterious device piques the reader's interest in further books in the series, and this seems like a wonderful way to explore the country from our own homes with our kids. 

We have book two (Utah) and my kids have already asked to start reading it.  I'm looking forward to it, too.

Details:

Author: Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley
Illustrator: Tanja Bauerle
Children's Chapter Book, Ages 5-12+ (I'd say it's better for younger kids)
Retail price: $12.99
Published by: Wright on Time Books (an imprint of Do Life Right, Inc.)
Available for purchase at the Wright on Time Store or Amazon.com