DINOSAUR WOODS

In this humorous and eco-conscious adventure, seven forest animals face the destruction of their forest home when a “Plas-Tic Trees Factory” buys up the property. But these animals aren’t going down without a fight. Inspired by a flier advertising a robotic dinosaur show, they decide to build their own enormous stick-and-burlap dinosaur costume based on the hypothesis that no one would dare destroy a dinosaur’s home. Not surprisingly the plan backfires when they trip over a cable and all come tumbling down. Turns out they are special—well, endangered to be exact—and their home is saved. The tongue-in-cheek narration is peppered with funny labels and bits of insider dialogue, such as the bear murmuring, “Is anyone else hot?” or, “Do I hear power tools?” Each character emerges three-dimensionally from the pages, and the revelation of their respective species will set readers howling. McClements’s chunky, textured collages work well with the deadpan expressions and couldn’t be more apt for the Trojan dinosaur in all its homemade glory (DIY paper-dino instructions appended). We’ve seen this story before, but we didn’t laugh as hard. (Picture book. 3-6)