Adventures of The Lost World will capture the imaginations of thousands of children across the city and country as part of The Great Reading Adventure 2009.

The Arthur Conan Doyle classic novel, first published in 1912, is a story about an explorer named Professor Challenger, who leads a team on a scientific trip to the Amazon rainforest where a lost world is discovered – full of dinosaurs and apemen.

More than 10,000 copies of the book will be given away free to school children in Bristol, and more than 180,000 in the South West and all over the country.

The give-away includes the original book as well as a more accessible comic-style version for younger children with games and activities. There is also a reader's guide which gives background information about the author of The Lost World, Conan Doyle, as well as A Graphic Biography of Darwin to give some background to the ideas behind the book.

Pupils at New Oaks Primary in Hengrove met the Lord Mayor Councillor Chris Davies and his wife Susan at the reptile house in Bristol Zoo Gardens to talk about the book.

Jamie Gill, aged nine, said: "I learned from the Darwin book that when human beings were younger we were all apes.

"I like the comic book because you can see what's happening and what the characters are saying.

"I'd like to read all day in school but we have lots of other work to do too, and my favourite subject is ICT.

"My favourite animals here are the lizards because they're camouflaged so you have to look for them really hard, and they're a bit like the dinosaurs in The Lost World.

"I want to try to read the harder Lost World book next."

Mary-Lou Brine, 10, said: "I'm looking forward to reading the book because I like adventure stories. It's nice when we are all reading it because I can talk to my friends about it after."

Shabina Iqbal, 11, said: "We like getting free books and we like the fun pictures and we like to read them with our families."

Ben Priddis, 10, said: "It's got good pictures. I have seen documentaries on dinosaurs and the film Jurassic Park and I really like dinosaurs."

Stacey Allen, seven, said: "It's all about people who go on an adventure and find dinosaurs and it's a really good book."

Dray Walker, 11, said: "It's good because it's got lots of activities in the book as well as the story.

"Because all my friends are reading it we can say to each other, "did you get up to this bit?" or "did you read that bit". It's good."

Paula Shears, assistant head at New Oaks Primary, said: "It's fantastic. Children have really engaged with this book already.

"It's ideal for children of all age ranges throughout the school because it's all about the mysteries of the unknown and children are fascinated by dinosaurs.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to have free books because a lot of our pupils wouldn't have access to books at home.

"The whole idea of it being a shared experience is great. The children get very excited to think other children across Bristol are reading it too."

The Lost World Read 2009 celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin with a mass-read of the classic adventure story The Lost World.

The project is part of Darwin 200, a national celebration of the life and work of Charles Darwin. As well as in Bristol and the South West The Lost World adventure is taking place in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Shrewsbury, Oxford, Portsmouth – all places connected with Darwin or at the forefront of scientific research.

The Great Reading Adventure was launched in Bristol in 2003 by the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (BCDP) – a partnership of Arts Council England, Bristol City Council and Business West.

It has encouraged hundreds of thousands of children to share reading since its launch.

Andrew Kelly, director of BCDP, said: "It's a rattling good adventure story that can be read by all age groups. It is a book that can be read for leisure and enjoyment as well as education.

"The Great Reading Adventure itself is now in its seventh year and has grown tremendously to become a great success. It no longer needs a lot of promotion because people expect it and anticipate it. It has become part of Bristol's cultural calendar."