DINI DINOSAUR
by Karen Beaumont illustrated by Daniel Roode
A delicious bit of bathtime flummery, delivered by a dirty little dino and his oddly inattentive mother.
A day’s play in the mud and sand leaves Dini covered in splotches from sneakers to cowboy hat. Into the tub he hops, but, “Silly Dini Dinosaur! / Don’t you know? / You have to take your SHOES off… / you go!” Following a repeat of this pattern for Dini’s pants, shirt and hat, Mama finishes off by scrubbing the parts he’s missed, and then it’s off to snoozeland for both. Beaumont’s buoyant, bouncy verse practically reads itself aloud, and it will not take long before young listeners fling themselves into the performance, chiming in with the "scrub-a-dub-dub!" refrain. Early-literacy skills are boosted by subtle textual cues that place the key word not only in all caps but in a color that matches the article of clothing in question. Roode complements the text with big, simple pictures filled with smiles (Dini's accessorized by one tiny fang) and sudsy bubbles.