Dinosaurs driving racecars, dinosaurs riding bicycles—even a whole Tyrannosaurus Rex family tucked into the sleeper car of a passenger train. Where could all of these dinosaurs be going? To the dinosaur reunion, a 40-million-year reunion to be exact. The sometimes rhyming text offers an amusing look at how dinosaurs might actually live among humans, but it's the art that brings this tale to life. Advertisements for Herb Ivore and Sons Expert Gardening service, Stegoland, and drinks offered in convenient ten-gallon cartons are some of the sight gags for the right eye. While the catchy (though often clumsy) writing and clever illustrations offer an amusing take on a familiar subject, the story ultimately goes flat, leaving it merely another dinosaur book. Drive on by unless desperate for another dinosaur fix. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-316-73811-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
None
Dynamic dinosaur duo Yolen and Teague team up again, this time tackling the touchy topic of table manners. Their signature rhyming text and hilarious illustrations introduce an ensemble of wacky giant reptiles in the end pages and show them engaged in a spectrum of really terrible table tantrums. An orange and purple Cryolophosaurus rudely burps and belches. A ponderous Protoceratops picks at his cereal and throws down his cup. A quirky winged Quetzalcoatlus fusses, fidgets and squirms in his chair in a busy restaurant. An out-of-control pink-and-blue-striped Amargasaurus flips a plate of spaghetti into the air while a spotted Spinosaurus slyly spits out his partially chewed broccoli, a huge Lambeosaurus bubbles his milk and a recumbent Gorgosaurus pokes string beans up his nose. Readers soon discover these gargantuan diners actually have exemplary table manners, suggesting that little dinosaurs everywhere might do well to follow their lead and “eat up.” A humorous, highly palatable read-aloud primer on table etiquette for the preschool dining set. (Picture book. 3-5)
None NonePub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-24102-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2005
Smoother rides are out there.
Mommy and Bonnie—two anthropomorphic rodents—go for a joyride and notice a variety of conveyances around their busy town.
The pair encounter 22 types of vocational vehicles as they pass various sites, including a fire engine leaving a firehouse, a school bus approaching a school, and a tractor trailer delivering goods to a supermarket. Narrated in rhyming quatrains, the book describes the jobs that each wheeled machine does. The text uses simple vocabulary and sentences, with sight words aplenty. Some of the rhymes don't scan as well as others, and the description of the mail truck’s role ("A mail truck brings / letters and cards / to mailboxes / in people's yards) ignores millions of readers living in yardless dwellings. The colorful digitally illustrated spreads are crowded with animal characters of every type hustling and bustling about. Although the art is busy, observant viewers may find humor in details such as a fragile item falling out of a moving truck, a line of ducks holding up traffic, and a squirrel’s spilled ice cream. For younger children enthralled by vehicles, Sally Sutton’s Roadwork (2011) and Elizabeth Verdick’s Small Walt series provide superior text and art and kinder humor. Children who have little interest in cars, trucks, and construction equipment may find this offering a yawner. Despite being advertised as a beginner book, neither text nor art recommend this as an engaging choice for children starting to read independently. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Smoother rides are out there. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37725-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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