Reviews: Stone Age Boy

The Independent's Children's Books of the Year - 7 December, 2007

Satoshi Kitamura's Stone Age Boy (Walker, £10.99) has a modern small boy meeting a prehistoric girl. He learns about her life and then has direct experience of a predator. This enchanting book will be read many times over by children lucky enough to be given it.

by Nicholas Tucker.

This Los Angelos Times review was written by Sonja Bolle - 21 October, 2007.

   An unusually imaginative approach to factual material is demonstrated in several other new books as well. Budding scientists in fields other than astronomy may warm to Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura (Candlewick Press, ages 4 to 8), which is a great introduction to archeology, or "Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly" by Alan Madison (Schwartz & Wade Books: $16.99, ages 4 to 8), a charming entomological story.

In Stone Age Boy, a boy trips and falls in the forest and awakes to find himself in the Stone Age. People back then were much like us -- there is a hilarious page on which the boy is discovered by a girl his age, and they observe each other wordlessly ("I don't think I looked like any of the boys she knew") before she takes him home to meet her family. After a successful hunt, everyone dances; the modern boy plays air guitar. During the days he spends in the past, the boy learns how people hunted and fished, cooked food, made clothes and weapons, produced fire.

   This wonderful picture book ends with the boy growing up, becoming an archeologist and wondering: Will I one day find my own face in a cave painting?

A Bookbag review.

   When on a walk, a modern young boy trips, falls, and finds himself in the Stone Age. He makes friends with a girl his age, who shows him Stone Age life. They learn how to make tools, light fires, go hunting, and prepare animal skins.

Satoshi Kitamura's book is interesting, informative and worthy, but just lacks a spark to make it truly exciting. It seamlessly blends fiction with non-fiction, and enjoyment with education, but will just be read and enjoyed, rather than read, re-read, and treasured for years. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but it fails to achieve its full potential. Stone Age Boy may well strike a chord with a child who enjoys climbing trees and going on adventures, but tends not to love pure fiction, and may not yet have discovered a love for books. Other children may find it's not quite immersive enough to become a long-term favourite.

Reviewed by Keith Dudhnath. 3 and a half stars.