PATRICK'S DINOSAURS ON THE INTERNET

Patrick’s beloved dinosaurs (Patrick’s Dinosaurs, illustrated by Donald Carrick, 1983, etc.) enter the new millennium with an updated imaginative flight. Patrick, who locates dinosaurs on the Internet, is unaware that the dinosaurs have been observing him from their own planet; he is whisked away one night by the friendly Flato in a “giant bumblebee” of a spaceship. When Patrick lands in a dinosaur schoolyard, a clever role reversal takes place and he finds himself the human equivalent of dinosaur “show and tell.” In one particularly funny moment, Patrick is grilled with questions such as, “What is it like to be warm-blooded? Did you hatch from an egg? What is your favorite food?” A soccer game ensues, shadowed by the arrival of a foot-stomping, tree-cracking tyrannosaurus rex. Patrick is hustled back aboard the spaceship, and lands safely back in his own bedroom, where, instead of stars, he dreams of dinosaurs. The interwoven dinosaur facts of the earlier books are absent here, other than identifying a few plant-eaters, and the author still refers to the apatopsaurus as a brontosaurus. Nevertheless, dinosaur-enthusiasts will welcome the return of their long-necked, personable friends, which Milgrim depicts as cuddly, cartoon-like, Barneyesque blue, green, and purple creatures. (Picture book. 3-7)