Dino fans or not, little readers will dig this one.
A child clad in a dinosaur costume dances with dino pals all the way to bedtime.
In this somewhat oversized board book, Tom swishes, stomps, and roars through the jungle with his fellow dinos. Even an encounter with Tyrannosaurus rex doesn’t slow them down; the toothy dinosaur simply joins in the fun. It’s a refreshing change to see the oft-feared T. rex given the opportunity to belong to the group. Brown-skinned Tom looks adorable in his yellow costume, his curly dark hair peeking out from underneath the top. One sweet element of the story is that Tom is always assumed to be a dinosaur; there is no discussion of his playing dress-up or using his imagination, the same way that during play, a child simply becomes what they imagine themselves to be. Beardshaw’s illustrations are charming, full of friendly-faced creatures set against a backdrop of softly erupting volcanoes and waterfalls. Robinson’s rhyming text is mostly paced well, with the refrain of “Let’s do the dinosaur!” appearing several times throughout. It also acts as a nice call to readers to imitate the story’s movements, chomping, swishing, stomping, and roaring along the way. It even plays with the concepts of quiet and loud. Given the book’s larger size and the potential for participation, this would make a nice read-aloud for a toddler group as well as sharing in a lap.
Dino fans or not, little readers will dig this one. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68464-044-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar interchange, featuring a less-ferocious-looking cousin of the tempestuous T. Rex of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur vs....
A parent/caregiver—unseen after a glimpse at the beginning—translates a “terrible twos”–style tantrum into a movie-monster rampage.
As it turns out, it’s all just a failure to communicate. As a Godzilla-like monster emerges from the ocean in Tankard’s thick-lined cartoon scenes and proceeds to wreak havoc amid skyscrapers, the now-unseen narrator scolds every action. The amused tone of the narrative—“Wipe your feet, Destructosaurus! For crying out loud, you’re tracking seaweed and dead fish all over the tourists”—turns annoyed as the rampage continues: “Stop throwing around buildings that don’t belong to you. You’ve been brought up better than that, you naughty monster!” But when the uproar turns out to have been just a search for a misplaced teddy bear, the scolding changes to repentance (“You could have used your words. But, still. Sorry I yelled”) and ends with a hug. Also, after a “GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW,” a general tidying up. The silliness of the premise is nicely amplified by the mixed-media illustrations, which feature disaster-movie perspectives and lots of rubble.
A familiar interchange, featuring a less-ferocious-looking cousin of the tempestuous T. Rex of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (2008) and its sequels. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2454-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
Although toddlers and preschoolers may enjoy the sliders, this book doesn’t establish an impressive identity as either a...
This board book features dinosaurs, interactive sliders, and the numbers one through 10.
One large dinosaur is shown on each double-page spread, along with three bright-colored sliders that are fun for little fingers to slide and explore. A bold, contrasting numeral is printed on each slider, and that number is spelled out in lowercase letters. Each slider moves either vertically or horizontally by means of a small finger hole or two, revealing a group of dinosaurs corresponding to the number on the slider. Each dinosaur is named, and its pronunciation is included, but no further information is given. The dinosaurs are not rendered to scale. The main dinosaur in each double-page spread is large, familiar, relatively detailed, and vividly textured (Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, etc.), while the dinosaurs in the sliding windows are much smaller, less familiar, and may be difficult for young children to count and pronounce. Some questions posed do not connect with the right numbers; “How many horns does Triceratops have?” is asked on the spread that presents numerals 4 and 5, while “How many legs does Ankylosaurus have?” is featured along with numerals 9 and 10.
Although toddlers and preschoolers may enjoy the sliders, this book doesn’t establish an impressive identity as either a counting book or a book about dinosaurs. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-90346-2
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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