This I-gotta-be-me story’s originality is matched by its wit and heart.
What’s a dinosaur to do when his roar is met with indifference?
All his life, dinosaur Fred Rex has set his sights on scaring people: It’s his birthright as a member of a “distinguished family of frighteners.” After five years at the School of Fear, Fred Rex is off to the big city to fulfill his destiny, but when he unleashes his roar, “nobody paid attention. They were all too busy.” Following multiple failed attempts, Fred Rex takes a tip from a stranger: There’s more to life than scaring people. Sure enough, after he tries dancing and museum-going, Fred Rex discovers that he has a passion for opera (“Such elegant roars!”). Could singing opera, rather than frightening people, be his true destiny? And how is he going to keep his failure to frighten people from his parents when they visit? Undergirding the story’s comical premise are heady themes: nonconformity, conclusion-jumping based on appearances, and failing to match parental expectations. Much of the book’s humor resides in the straight-facedness of Camp’s delivery: The racially diverse people that Fred Rex meets either don’t notice or don’t care that he’s a dinosaur. The black-outlined shapes in Camp’s ink-and-Procreate illustrations are largely filled in with solid colors with scritch-scratch surfaces calling to mind Magic Markers—fitting in a tale about someone childlike finding his way.
This I-gotta-be-me story’s originality is matched by its wit and heart. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781525315336
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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
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