CHILL, CHOMP, CHILL!

Dinosaur preschoolers demonstrate compromise, anger management, and other socialization skills.

What should little Chomp do when classmate Camara takes the last purple building block? When Rio puts party invitations into every cubby except his? Or, at last, when he beats everyone back inside after recess and finds snacks laid out? For each scenario Ayala-Kronos poses rhetorical questions—“Should Chomp ROAR? Should Chomp STOMP? Should Chomp…CHOMP?”—then offers the titular strategy. It turns out to be savvy counsel, as Sordo demonstrates in his simply drawn cartoons by following scenes of the overalls-clad Chomp acting out with more-harmonious alternative views: of smiling dinos using the purple block to link their two constructions, of Rio personally delivering an extra-special invitation with a hug, and like cozy outcomes. It all culminates in a final observation that sometimes a CHOMP! is the right move (so long as there’s enough for everyone). In both concept and the styling of the title character, this book can’t help comparison with Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series, but it’s considerably tamer. And as prehistoric guides to better behavior go, the droll and venerable How Do Dinosaurs… series from Jane Yolen and Mark Teague offers a far broader set of prescriptions, but younger beastlings may be tempted to give this a nibble. A bouncy song based on the story (written and performed by Jonathan Dean) is available for free from the publisher’s website. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Unapologetically agenda driven, but the behavioral advice is valid enough.