Scholastic, $6.99, ISBN 978-1-338-23802-0
Media Tie-In, 2018
Owen’s Guide to Survival is published in 2018, but it is a tie-in to Jurassic World that came out in 2015. This is a kiddie book, of course, although I wonder whether the targeted readers should be watching that PG-13 movie. This book of course doesn’t have any death scenes, as it is basically an advertisement for the tie-in Lego sets. The last two pages straight up tell readers to go buy the LEGO sets!
I have to say, though, the book is simply adorable. It is patterned after a safety and common sense manual by Owen Grady himself. The whole thing is written using simple English, as befitting a book meant for kids, although there is a running joke about how dinosaurs in the park are fed on hot dogs and Owen thinks that it’s a terrible idea, especially when it’s him who is stuck in a hot dog suit and the dinosaurs are eyeing him with a hungry look. I also enjoy how the book slyly pokes fun at the many stupid things done by the characters in the movie, as Owen basically tells the reader not to do what those idiots did in the movie.
But who cares about the words – sorry Meredith Rusu – the whole novelty value of this thing for adults lies in the illustrations. The Lego dinosaurs and figures are so cute, and if those sets weren’t so ridiculously overpriced, I’d have gone out to buy some after reading this thing. Seriously, that Owen Grady is so cute, I want one. It’s actually cuter than the BrickHeadz one that I bought a while back.
At any rate, Owen’s Guide to Survival doesn’t have much educational value, so I suppose it’s worth buying for the kids only if they are a big fan of the movie. But if they are, will they be cool with the lack of hungry dinosaurs eating everyone in this book? For adults, though, this is a cute novelty thing worth a look if they like Lego and Chris Pratt. Which, lucky for me, I sort of fit the bill.
