Mr. Robert's Madagascar is a story of the founding of an unknown land—Madagascar—by Diogo Dias and encountering its bizarre endemic wildlife. Diogo Dias was a Portuguese explorer and captain for one of Vasco de Gama's Second Armada ships.

The book begins when Dias' ship is blown off course and separated from the fleet. He is not sure if the remaining crew will last because they have been decimated by the storm and disease. However, the call "Land, ho!" on August 10, 1500, breaks the early morning silence and gives them hope. Through Dias' purported ship's logbook, elementary-middle school readers continue the adventure with the mariners as they began exploring the island and confronting the incredible plants and animals of the southeast beach and nearby lush and perilous lowland rainforest habitat.

Mr. Robert's Madagascar is illustrated with 50 color illustrations and B&W ink drawings. Scientific facts of each species are found on curatorial-like sticky note graphics. To promote reading comprehension, ClueQ poses questions to encourage young readers to detect the answer in a nearby passage. The book's back pages contain ClueQ clues and answers, vocabulary, and historical content.