“Thursday was a day much like any other for Jesse. Trains and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and trains.” In a brisk, bright solo debut, Gurney combines these two near-universal obsessions; just as Jesse is getting ready for bed, a huge spiked tail extends through the window, and the call comes: “ALL ABOARD!” Who could resist? Off Jesse hies on a train filled with enormous dinos of diverse, recognizable sorts, all sporting a range of human attire from business suits to blue jeans. The train is derailed when everyone rushes to one side to view an exploding volcano, but with Jesse’s help, it’s soon back on track, steaming bedroom-wards with a Tyrannosaurus engineer perched atop the boiler. The author gives his towering prehistoric passengers a friendly look, and depicts them with a crisp precision enhanced by white or plain-colored backgrounds. Here’s a train that will never want for pajama-clad passengers—no ticket required. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-029245-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
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
With its dazzling colors and big, simple, paper collage forms, this may draw fans of Byron Barton’s Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (1989) and Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones (1990), but it’s strictly an also-ran. Between a lame, large-type rhyme at the top and several lines of commentary in smaller type below each scene, Barner (Fish Wish, 2000, etc.) alternates skeletal and fleshed-out portraits of five popular dinosaurs. Problem is that the skeleton paired with Spinosaurus belongs to some other (unspecified) creature, and—even novice dino fans will puzzle over this one—all of the T. Rexes have flat, plant-eater teeth. Also, Barner will leave most readers none the wiser by rightly noting that some dinosaurs had hips like birds, and some like lizards, but neither showing nor explaining the difference. The design wins no points either; background colors are so saturated that some blocks of text are indistinct, and the “Dino-meter” at the end is not a measurement chart (that appears on the previous spread), but a table of general facts. Give this one a miss. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8118-3158-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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