A saur-ingly fun read. Hand this to those who love dinos and all things science.
A science-loving dinosaur saves his friends.
Few have heard of Spike the Stemosaurus, who’s inquisitive and good with numbers. Small and quiet, he’s not nearly as well known as his more rambunctious pals, who enjoy wrestling, heavy lifting, and racing; Spike prefers exploring, inventing, and learning about the world. Sometimes he longs to be strong, tall, and fast, like his pals. He invents “cretaceous contraptions” to make those wishes real, but he still sees himself as “a rather weak, slightly short, kind of awkward Stemosaurus.” When a giant meteor begins hurtling to Earth one day, Spike does some mathematical calculations and concludes that its impact will be catastrophic. The other dinos are terrified, but Spike devises a solution, and together the friends build the “first-ever TERRIFIC TEAMWORK TRIASSIC TELEPORTER.” Everyone climbs aboard, and Spike sets the time machine—for 65 million years hence! Flash-forward to the present: Everyone’s aware of the Stemosaurus now. This whimsical tale will delight dinosaur fans and other science-minded kids. It celebrates friendship, cooperation, and the idea that everyone’s got strengths and talents worthy of respect—and wittily turns the meteors-killed-off-dinosaurs theory on its ear. The dynamic digital illustrations are comically appealing. Bespectacled blue Spike and the dinosaurs are adorable; background humans are diverse.
A saur-ingly fun read. Hand this to those who love dinos and all things science. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781662520471
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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