Back in 1990, Michael Crichton, a bestselling author of books for adults, released JURASSIC PARK, his novel about a remote-island tourist attraction where live dinosaurs (cloned from ancient DNA) roamed in the wild. In 1993, director Steven Spielberg turned Chrichton's novel into a hit feature film for Universal, followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park II in 1997 (based on Crichton's sequel, THE LOST WORLD). Now comes the feature flick Jurassic Park III opening July 18th and based on the characters from the previous books and movies (but without Spielberg at the helm). Though many of you will not be able to see the movie, as it's rated PG-13, we know you've probably heard about it and are wondering what it's about. We're here to help you out, serving up a short synopsis of the film, a list of the kids' movie tie-in books inspired by the movie, and our cool round-up of dinosaur books. We hope you have fun exploring!

The Jurassic Park III Story: Eight years ago paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (played by Sam Neill) visited the original Jurassic Park with some of his colleagues. Something went terribly wrong with the dinsosaurs and Dr. Grant barely got out alive; many of the people who accompanied him weren't so lucky.

Still curious about the whole Jurassic Park idea, Dr. Grant accepts a generous, but unusual offer to take an aerial tour of Isla Sarna, a site just next to the original Isla Nublar, home the original Jurassic Park. But when the plane he's on crash-lands in the island jungle, it's just the beginning of a terrifying adventure. Dr. Grant learns that his benefactors are looking for their child who disappeared on the island during a vacation there. They want to use his expertise to find their son. With danger --- and of course, dinosaurs --- at every turn, no one knows if they'll succeed.

If you're intrigued, check out the books about the movie for more excitement --- and more information.

   --- Shannon Maughan

JURASSIC PARK III: Junior Novelization
by Scott Ciencin
Random House
ISBN: 0375813187
Ages 8-up
116 pages

As author of the Dinoverse series, Ciencin has written lots of thrilling dinosaur stories. This one, based on the feature film, is full of action and dinosaur information, with some humor thrown in. An eight-page color insert spotlights scenes from the movie.

JURASSIC PARK III: Movie Storybook
by Mark Cerasini
Random House
ISBN: 0375812881
Ages 8-up
48 pages

Follow the story of Dr. Alan Grant and his wild adventures with live dinosaurs on Isla Sarna with this collection of photos from the film. Plot points are revealed (obviously), so if you're seeing the movie, you probably won't want to look at this book beforehand. For everyone else, dive right in and get a sense of what the movie really looks like.

SURVIVOR (Jurassic Park Adventures, No. 1)
by Scott Ciencin
Random House
ISBN: 037581289X
Ages 8-up
116 pages

This book kicks off a new, action-packed fiction series inspired by the Jurassic Park books and movies. The first adventure fleshes out the story from Jurassic Park III, focusing on Eric Kirby, the 13-year-old boy who went missing on Isla Sarna after taking a para-sailing trip there with his mother's boyfriend. See what he had to do to survive until someone could come and rescue him. This title and the others that will come in the series include dinosaur fun facts, trading cards and information on cool dinosaur websites you can visit.

JURASSIC PARK INSTITUTE DINOSAUR FIELD GUIDE
by Michael Brett-Surman and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Random House
ISBN: 0375812938
Ages 6-up
160 pages

This nonfiction guide alphabetically lists more than 100 different dinosaurs so you can easily look up your favorites, or any you're curious about. From well-known dinos to the newest ones discovered by paleontologists, there's a broad range here. Fun facts from respected experts, full-color illustrations, and a free, enclosed poster make this a super volume for dinosaur lovers.

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