A populous but not overcrowded gallery, with opportunities aplenty to practice those polysyllabic monikers.
Dozens of dinosaurs and their contemporary cousins pose picturesquely in this expansive introduction for budding dinophiles.
Formatted for durability on large cardstock leaves with rounded corners, each prehistoric scene features a throng of variously sized creatures—nearly all depicted in full body portraits—with labels and informative comments interspersed. In his virtually gore-free cartoon illustrations, Cosgrove tends to endow dinos with smiles and googly eyes, but the colorful figures are otherwise realistically shaped and equipped (the predators, anyway) with properly serrated dentifrices. Along with carefully noting which creatures are not true dinosaurs, Frith points out significant anatomical features (“Concavenators had big humps on their backs. Some could grow long feathers on their arms, too, for extra showing off”), explains scenarios, and on one memorable page translates the names of seven T. Rex relatives such as “Tarbasaurus (Alarming dinosaur)” and “Teratophoneus (Murderous monster).” The spreads are topical rather than chronological, so dinos of different eras mix, but a closing timeline that leaves modern birds looking back quizzically at 180 million years of ancestors offers a sequential overview.
A populous but not overcrowded gallery, with opportunities aplenty to practice those polysyllabic monikers. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7945-3660-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Usborne
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Better books about loving fathers and the things they do for their children abound.
I Love Mom (2014) gets its companion title from Walsh and Abbot.
Unfortunately, it suffers from problems similar to the ones that sank the first book. This time portraying dad and his child as brightly colored dinosaurs with big heads and goofy grins, the book enumerates all the ways that no one is as good as dad. “Nobody’s kisses are so bristly. / Nobody’s stubble so double-itchy.” Odd things to celebrate, particularly in a reptile, but this dad also “makes breakfast into a festival,” rides bikes with his kiddo, plays with board games and toys when it’s raining, and makes sure his child’s teeth are brushed. The text does not rhyme, which makes the wording seem especially strange and difficult for young readers to parse: “Who else gives me a feeling of being as tall as the ceiling? Better go outside where… / nobody’s shoulders could be higher, so near the sky for such a lively ride // … // Cooking with Dad’s a laugh, a blast, not half a spoonful wasted.” Abbot manages to show lots of emotion from just simple dots and lines for eyes and mouths, and it’s clear just how much this child looks up to Dad.
Better books about loving fathers and the things they do for their children abound. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6266-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
