In a market teeming with terrible reptiles, this book earns itself a big di-NO.
Here be dinosaurs.
When adapting a song to a picture-book format, the source material should have the same natural rise and fall of action as a literary text. Some songs take to their newfound formats like a fish to water, while others, like Berkner’s here, are left gasping for air. Working a plot onto the plotless lyrics of the titular song, pictures and added dialogue send five little dinosaurs on a hike up a mountain. The cartoony crew stomps, stops to eat, climbs, and goes to sleep in a mountaintop cave before running heck-for-leather back down to avoid a volcanic demise. Plenty of dialogue assists the text, though the lyrics of the song provide the story’s backbone. Readers already familiar with the music will enjoy the lively adaptation, but for new fans, the lure of dinosaurs may not be enough to sustain their interest. Much of the heavy lifting is performed by Clanton, whose wide-eyed, perky dinosaurs attempt to hang a plot on Berkner’s upbeat, repetitive lyrics, with limited success. Though there is initial lip service paid to the repeated assertion that the dinosaurs “make the earth flat,” depiction of the dinosaurs on the lumpy incline of the mountain will puzzle readers. Oddly, for a book so reliant on familiarity with Berkner’s song, no CD or online link to the music is included (though “We Are the Dinosaurs” sheet music is printed on the book’s back cover, where it will likely be inaccessible to library users).
In a market teeming with terrible reptiles, this book earns itself a big di-NO. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6463-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their...
Less ambitious than Chris Gall’s widely known Dinotrux (2009) and sequels, this British import systematically relegates each dinosaur/construction-equipment hybrid to its most logical job.
The title figures are introduced as bigger than both diggers and dinosaurs, and rhyming text and two construction-helmeted kids show just what these creatures are capable of. Each diggersaur has a specific job to do and a distinct sound effect. The dozersaurus moves rocks with a “SCRAAAAPE!!!” while the rollersaurus flattens lumps with a cheery “TOOT TOOT!!” Each diggersaur is numbered, with 12 in all, allowing this to be a counting book on the sly. As the diggersaurs (not all of which dig) perform jobs that regular construction equipment can do, albeit on a larger scale, there is no particular reason why any of them should have dinosaurlike looks other than just ’cause. Peppy computer art tries valiantly to attract attention away from the singularly unoriginal text. “Diggersaurs dig with bites so BIG, / each SCOOP creates a crater. // They’re TOUGH and STRONG / with necks so long— / they’re super EXCAVATORS!” Far more interesting are the two human characters, a white girl and a black boy, that flit about the pictures offering commentary and action. Much of the fun of the book can be found in trying to spot them on every two-page spread.
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their dino/construction kicks. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-4779-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for...
Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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