Twenty-one dinosaur poems and dozens of humorous drawings to delight dinosaur lovers of all ages will make this new collection a real favorite. Adults be warned: children will want these poems read aloud. Consult the helpful pronunciation guide before attempting such poems as “The Awful Three,” which includes the verse: “The first was Rhamphorhynchus, / Hardly longer than your arm, / A grisly little monster / With very little charm.” While the rhymes are sometimes forced—for example, “ungracious” “Cretaceous”—it's hard not to smile at the toothy vaudevillian T. Rex with straw hat and cane doing a soft shoe. The picture book set will giggle at the variety of urban dinosaurs in costume and clothing, lumbering though the city with Walkman, cell phone, running shoes, and skateboards. The author of Ten Sly Piranhas (1993) presents the familiar dinosaurs: T. Rex, Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Triceratops, and the less familiar Gorgosaurus. While children will pick their own favorites, the last poem, “Dinosaurs Forever,” will speak to all: “… But as long as there are those of us / Who love ‘The Beast that Roars,’ / No matter what the experts say— / There will always be Dinosaurs!” (Poetry. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8037-2114-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
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