I'M A HUNGRY DINOSAUR

The grime-loving young star of I’m A Dirty Dinosaur! (2014) finds fresh wallowing potential in the ingredients for a cake…

…and that would be literally, as in the illustrations, James liberally daubs her dino, a sketchy colored-pencil outline, with flour, cocoa, chocolate icing, and multicolored sprinkles. Sitting on the floor or marching proudly across a minimally detailed kitchen, the increasingly self-spattered baker dumps ingredients into a bowl, pours the batter into a pan, hovers by the oven until the cake is done, flings frosting and sprinkles over it, and proceeds to chow down. The rhythmic patterned commentary—“I’m a hungry dinosaur, / oh, the cake looks nice. / I’ll chomp and chew a piece or two… / maybe one more slice! // CHOMP, CHOMP, CHEW, CHEW, / MAYBE ONE MORE SLICE!”—invites young listeners to chant along and to join in the final demand to “MIX, MIX, BEAT, BEAT, / MAKE ANOTHER CAKE!” There is no recipe, alas, but the venture’s stiff, coated stock will at least be resistant to the grubby prints of young cake makers and eaters.

A toddler-friendly celebration of messiness, with a yummy culmination.