THE DINOSAUR THAT POOPED THE PAST!

Fresh (if that’s the word) from excretory adventures in outer space (see The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet, 2017), Danny and his craptastic dino companion undertake further effluvial exploits in the Jurassic.

Having discovered that the swing in Granny’s yard is a time machine, the white boy and the dino find themselves in deep soup when it breaks—stranding them in the distant past right next to an erupting volcano. With help from a trio of mischievous tykes dubbed “Dino Dudes A, B, and C,” the very images of pop-eyed, primary-colored cuteness in the cartoon illustrations, repairs are made…but how to get the required push? Having previously chowed down on Granny’s broccoli eggs and Brussels sprouts, it’s time for Dinosaur to do his thing: “The poop came out fast; it had broccoli power, / And launched them to eighty-eight miles per hour.” Back through the eras they fly (“The Romans and Trojans were covered in poop; / They all got a taste of Gran’s broccoli soup”), with the Dudes tagging along, to arrive back at Gran’s just in time for slices of, yes, broccoli cake. Parsons renders the prehistoric lava with an evocatively red and glutinous look, and if the gusher that flows out of Dinosaur’s butt is counterintuitively orange, it’s still a revolting sight. That the rhyme seems often to be in thrall to tortured scansion is probably a minor consideration.

Will doubtless leave young readers and viewers flushed with excitement.