Sturdy split pages allow readers to create their own inventive combinations from among a handful of prehistoric critters. Hard on the heels of Flip-O-Saurus (2010) drops this companion gallery, printed on durable boards and offering opportunities to mix and match body thirds of eight prehistoric mammals, plus a fish and a bird, to create such portmanteau creatures as a “Gas-Lo-Therium,” or a “Mega-Tor-Don.” The “Mam-Nyc-Nia” places the head of a mammoth next to the wings and torso of an Icaronycteris (prehistoric bat) and the hind legs of a Macrauchenia (a llamalike creature with a short trunk), to amusing effect. Drehsen adds first-person captions on the versos, which will also mix and match to produce chuckles: “Do you like my nose? It’s actually a short trunk…” “I may remind you of an ostrich, because my wings aren’t built for flying…” “My tail looks like a dolphin’s.” With but ten layers to flip, young paleontologists will run through most of the permutations in just a few minutes, but Ball’s precisely detailed ink-and-watercolor portraits of each animal formally posed against plain cream colored backdrops may provide a slightly more enduring draw. A silhouette key on the front pastedown includes a pronunciation guide and indicates scale. Overall, a pleasing complement to more substantive treatments. (Novelty nonfiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7892-1099-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Abbeville Kids
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
Another slyly disquieting outing from the creators of Who’s in the Bathroom? (2007). (Picture book. 6-8)
Willis and Reynolds deliver a sharp tweak to the credulous, as just the rumor of a monster sighting prompts a mass migration of rubberneckers.
“One foggy, groggy morning / by the salty, splashy sea,” reports a moon-faced lad, “I’m sure I saw a dinosaur / and I’m sure that he saw me.” Word gets around fast, and in no time not just local residents but soldiers, sailors, scientists, divers and more have set up camps on the beach. They all bear expressions of open-mouthed wonder, and they search industriously for the elusive creature. Sharp-eyed viewers can join the search, as nearly every one of Reynolds’ full-spread, comical cartoon scenes features an unobtrusive glimpse of a green tail or part of a humped back with jagged ridges. In the end, it all turns out to be a marketing ploy, foisted by the young narrator (who is last seen dressed in a dino costume and grinning mischievously) on an unsuspecting public to drum up business for his dad’s ice-cream stand during the cold season. Just an innocent trick, ho ho.
Another slyly disquieting outing from the creators of Who’s in the Bathroom? (2007). (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8093-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dinosaur fans, or anyone who enjoys horseplay on a humongous scale, will happily welcome back these gargantuan goofs.
Dinos take to the air in the latest joyride from the creators of Dinosailors (2003) and All Aboard the Dinotrain (2006).
It takes multiple tries and a mighty dino-push to get their Brobdignagian cargo plane off the ground, but once airborne it’s all fun and games. “They dangle from their wide trapeze / And dinodance on wings with ease. / The crowd below screams out for more. / They love to watch them dinosoar!”—until sudden winds and spins prompt a hasty “dinojump.” Outfitting his dino-aviators (all easily recognizable types, identified on the endpapers) in goggles and scarves, Fine uses broad and busy brushwork in full-bleed double-page spreads. He gives his cast a comically massive look and captures an entirely appropriate feeling of frenzied, slapstick action in keeping with the rhymed text’s overcaffeinated tempo. Once down safely, all “kiss the ground, give dinothanks, / And promise, ‘No more dinopranks!’ ” As if.
Dinosaur fans, or anyone who enjoys horseplay on a humongous scale, will happily welcome back these gargantuan goofs. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-15-206016-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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