Things aren’t always as they seem in this inventive gallery of dinosaurs in disguise.
Those caregivers who remember Mad magazine’s Fold-Ins will appreciate the central device of this fun and colorful board book. In Mad, when a large illustration of a seemingly ordinary scene was folded on the dotted lines, the folded elements came together to create a new picture illustrating the punchline to the joke. In this book, unfolding a seemingly innocuous picture reveals a bevy of dinosaurs to delight dinophiles of all ages. “Look,” opens the text, “isn’t that a beautiful butterfly?” But once readers pull out the accordion-folded page they see: “No, that’s a Pteranodon.” A page of text on verso faces a very nonthreatening image on recto until little readers extend the folded pages full length, revealing the hidden reptiles. “Oh no, it’s a spider! / Wait, it’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex…Run!” The text and the accompanying reveals lend themselves to call-and-response readings and squeals of laughter. The artwork is cartoonish and decidedly nonthreatening; some dinosaurs are more recognizable than others. The book scores points with an eclectic mix of dinosaurs, including some fairly obscure creatures—Kronosaurus, Parasaurolophus, and Europlocephalus, for instance—with points deducted for depicting Triceratops with a double row of spikes on its back and without the essential third horn on its beak by which it gets its name.
Interactive, prehistoric fun for the whole family. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-988-8341-95-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Minedition
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES
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A board-book ode to parental love as old as the dinosaurs.
A line of text on the left of each spread reads like a dinosaur-themed valentine that a third grader might choose, with punishingly punny wordplay that incorporates dinosaur-related words. On the facing page a dinosaur pair—a baby and an adult—gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes against whimsical, pastel-hued prehistoric-ish backgrounds. In smaller print, in all caps, at the bottom of the left page is the scientific name for the dinosaur referenced by the text and picture followed by a helpful phonetic pronunciation guide. White-outlined footprints appear next to their names, though the white is sometimes difficult to see against the pastel pages. Ten of the best-known dinosaurs are included. Twisting the dinosaur names to fit the loving sentiments succeeds some of the time but more often results in tortured text, well beyond the understanding of the board book audience. The line accompanying two hugging velociraptors, for instance, is just confusing: “Wrap-TOR arms around me, / with you I’ll always stay.” Others are just plain clumsy: “I-wanna-GUANODON you kisses, / I truly just adore you.” Very young children, even those fascinated by dinosaurs, will not get it. Older dinosaur fans will be put off by the babyish format.
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2295-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It's not the first time dinosaurs have been featured in a clever Boynton board book. It seems she—and we—can't get enough.
As her fans know, Boynton has a sly wit that respects the intelligence of her young fans and amuses the adults asked to “read it again.” In this book she introduces nine dinosaurs, each of which dances in a way that seems totally appropriate for that particular species. “The blue Stegosaurus goes SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE. / The red Brontosaurus goes QUIVERY QUAKE.” Drawing on her experience as a children’s musician, she writes a text that trips along like a song with rhymes that make sense but don't intrude. The illustrations, typical Boynton, reflect her greeting-card background. They are cartoonish but manage to capture the unique personality of each creature. The unnamed dinosaur narrator looks genuinely distraught at not being able to name the “tiny little dino” that “goes DEEDLY DEE.” Spoiler alert: the tiny little dinosaur is probably Compsognathus and would be about the size of a small chicken. Young dinophiles would be impressed if the dinosaurologists in their lives could supply that factoid, but alas, they will have to look it up.
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8099-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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