bookshelf

HOW TO GROW A DINOSAUR

Name: HOW TO GROW A DINOSAUR
Author: Jill Esbaum
ISBN: 978-0-399-53910-7

by Jill Esbaum ; illustrated by Mike Boldt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 2018

While Esbaum and Boldt can’t address every aspect of having a new baby around the house, they hit the relevant...

bookshelf

Dinosaur fans expecting a new baby in the family now have a guide to big-siblinghood.

Esbaum and Boldt address readers directly in the second person and play up the humor of the ups and downs of having a baby. “Good news!” is followed by “Bad news!”: “Your mama’s hatching a baby!” but “Babies take their sweet time.” Mama dino carries a car seat with an egg strapped inside. Three pages show that the wait is too much for the impatient sibling: dad rescues the egg from a hammer-and-screwdriver threat. Of course, the egg hatches, then it’s time to wait until the new baby is big enough to do anything other than scream, eat, burp, sleep, and poop (this last causes the sibling to run away screaming). Gradually, the book continues, it will be your job to teach the baby how to be a dino, but be careful: babies are copycats, so watch your behavior. The digital T. Rexes are each a different color, the new baby pink with a purple pacifier, the older sibling orange with a blue shirt and toys that suggest it may be a boy.

While Esbaum and Boldt can’t address every aspect of having a new baby around the house, they hit the relevant highlights—the serious, the horrific, and the hysterical—and tenderly portray the growing bond between the two children. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-399-53910-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
PARROTFISH HAS A SUPERPOWER
by Jill Esbaum ; illustrated by Bob Shea

- BOOK REVIEW
BIRD GIRL
by Jill Esbaum ; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

- BOOK REVIEW
STINKBIRD HAS A SUPERPOWER
by Jill Esbaum ; illustrated by Bob Shea

bookshelf

CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

bookshelf

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

HOW TO CATCH A MAMASAURUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.

bookshelf

Another creature is on the loose.

The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.