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GOOD NIGHT, DINOSAURS by Judy Sierra

GOOD NIGHT, DINOSAURS

by Judy Sierra & illustrated by Victoria Chess

Pub Date: Feb. 20th, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-65016-X
Publisher: Clarion Books

A tongue-in-cheek lullaby book of small good-night poems for dinosaurs. ``Three tyrannosaurus rexes/Once lay dreaming of their breakfasts/In what's now the state of Texas.'' Sierra (Nursery Tales Around the World, 1995, etc.) uses comic neologisms (tyrannograndma and scaredysauruses among them) and ends every poem with a gentle refrain. If the meter ocassionally stumbles, or the rhymes are sometimes forced, the mood of the book is always delightful; this is an affectionate view of the great beasts. Chess depicts dinosaur families gathered around their young; the offbeat charm of these watercolor scenes compensates for any imperfections in the poems. Each page has a handsome yellow border, framing the text on one page and the picture on the other, snugging the book like a baby's blanket. (Picture book. 3-6)