Dino lovers will be charmed; others may want to stick with the more traditional goats, like those of Mary Finch’s 2001 title.
This version of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” will satisfy dinosaur lovers who just cannot get their fill of their favorite prehistoric beasts.
“Once upon a time, sixty-eight million years ago…” lived the three Triceratops Tuff brothers: Stanley, Rufus and Bob. Food is pretty scarce, so they go out in search of something to eat. They find lots of vegetation, but it’s on the other side of a valley inhabited by an intimidating T-Rex. Hungry, naïve Stanley is not daunted, even when the giant carnivore approaches him and announces that dinner is served. Told about the bigger brother, the T-Rex tells Stanley to “scram, squirt!” Nervous Rufus’ experience is just the same. And when the largest brother confronts the toothy monster, the always tough Bob has something in mind that doesn’t involve becoming a meal. With the T-Rex taken care of, “at last, dinner was served…” for all the herbivores. Shaskan’s dinos are delightfully individualized, though the T-Rex is so stylized as to possibly be unrecognizable. However his teeth and posture certainly get his message across, while his slang-y speech adds another dimension to the tale. Ferny fronds, a smoking volcano in the background and a mosquito that buzzes through most scenes complete the prehistoric package.
Dino lovers will be charmed; others may want to stick with the more traditional goats, like those of Mary Finch’s 2001 title. (Fractured fairy tale. 3-7)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4397-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.”
The cover’s glowing golden stars are but a small hint of the parent-child love inside.
In this companion book to the creators’ I Love You, My Little Unicorn (2022), a world full of digitally created dinosaurs illustrated in eye-catching colors dominates the pages. From the start, it’s clear that dinosaur parents have the same hopes and dreams for their offspring that human parents do. Readers don’t have to be dinosaur fans to smile when the parent-and-child dinosaur pairs playfully interact and share loving glances. Take special note of the ankylosauruses, whose tails arc to form a heart beneath a sky filled with heart-shaped clouds. The text in verse shares words of unconditional parental love and support and wisdom (“please remember all these things / that I want you to know”), appropriate for humans and dinos alike. “Roar with all your might!” “Spread your wings and fly.” “Use your voice, and ask for help.” There’s even a caveat that some “days will be dark / and other shades of gray.” But “there’s always brightness up ahead.” While the loving sentiments in the storytelling are clear, words are sometimes inverted to make the rhyme work, and the verse doesn’t always follow a consistent meter, but prereading will let the story shine during quiet snuggle times.
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728268361
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dreamy dinosaur doings.
What would you do with a dinosaur?
Young Marianne would share wondrous nighttime adventures. First, she’d dig up a dinosaur on a beach, assemble its bones, and wish it alive. She does so in this rhyming picture book while “fisherfolk” worry about her. For some adults, this “Marianne” who discovers a seaside dinosaur might conjure Mary Anning, the 19th-century English paleontologist. Like that scientist, the protagonist diligently arranges bones until her fossils take shape. Unlike Anning, Marianne names her discovery Bony, fervently wishing it to spring to life. The book then soars into the dream world; readers probably won’t notice or mind the disconnect. Bony, a smiling, green-scaled apatosaurus look-alike, swims and flies with Marianne into magical lands where they meet fanciful beings and discover a “magical moonlit island” filled with diverse children and their fantasy dinos. (Marianne presents white.) Since all this happens before these children go to sleep, what will they possibly dream about after? The ending finds the story back at the beach, the residents now unconcerned, and the kids digging for dinosaurs—and holding fast to their nighttime secrets. The verses in this cheerful dreamscape mostly read and scan rhythmically, but some are clunky. The scribbly illustrations, dominated by pale greens, teals, and sandy yellow and punctuated by Marianne’s red mop, are lively and atmospheric. Kids will appreciate the silver-foil patches on the book cover’s round moon.
Dreamy dinosaur doings. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0322-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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