Bendall-Brunello plasters sound words (“snore snore SNORE”) over busy watercolor scenes in which three small, orange dinos unsuccessfully try to wake up their much larger mother. Pokes, prods, a tickly feather and even a roll down the hill don’t do the trick; finally they jump on her chest, whereupon she rears up with a “roar! roar! ROAR!” and smilingly chases the giggling miscreants away. The mostly-one-word-at-a-time text is not only completely dispensable but, being descriptive rather than onomatopoeic, wooden to boot. Emerging readers will notice the words festooning the pages in threes, but their likelihood of establishing a satisfying chant out of them is small. Sharp observers may be mildly amused to see small clues that Mom’s only feigning sleep toward the end, but look to the likes of Eileen Christelow’s Don’t Wake Up Mama! (1992) or Marjorie Dennis Murray’s Don’t Wake Up the Bear! (2003) for broader humor and more developed plotlines. (Picture book. 6-8)
