A hit for dinosaur fans in the toddler set.
Dinos play ball!
In this board-book companion to Wheeler and Gott’s earlier Dino-Sports picture-book series, readers land smack-dab in the middle of an exhilarating baseball game featuring dinosaur characters. The opening pages read “Leather mitts. // Dino-bat. // Cleats on feet. // Baseball hat,” as the illustrations show a play-by-play: a Triceratops on the mound gearing up for a pitch; a hitter (a Baryonyx?) loading the bat, launching a shot, and running the bases; and two outfielders frantically returning the ball to the infield for the out. In this brisk fashion, the face-off between the herbivorous Green Sox and the carnivorous Rib-Eye Reds unfolds. There isn’t room in the brief text to depict a full nine innings, though both teams are shown playing offense and defense. At one point, Gott capitalizes on the sheer size of some dinosaurs by humorously placing what looks to be a towering Apatosaurus in the outfield. Later, this same gentle giant scores a run, delivering what some may see as an unlikely win for the plant-eating Sox. The spare, rhyming text, action-packed narrative, and colorful digital art combine for toddler-friendly fare. What could have read as an awkward switch to the past tense in one instance (“Pitcher throws. // Dino missed. // Try again. // Dino hits!”) is eased by Gott’s visual interpretation showing the baseball in the catcher’s mitt after the small dinosaur up to bat misses it.
A hit for dinosaur fans in the toddler set. (Board book. 0-3)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72844-614-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
A sweet reminder that love is best measured in actions.
Even when well-intended plans go awry, sometimes “I love you” is plastered all over one’s face.
Tiny T. Rex wants to make the perfect valentine for friend Pointy, a stegosaurus. It’s a noble ideal, but perfection is more elusive than the little theropod realized. That’s the premise of this charming board book that succinctly celebrates love, friendship, aspiration, perseverance, limitations, and the notion that it’s the thought that counts—especially when it’s clearly reflected in effort. Like its protagonist, this book is small, but it’s rich in value and works on every level. The artwork has an elegant simplicity that beautifully balances color, personality, and clever detail. A panel of Tiny designing the card in chalk on a blackboard, for example, reveals the scale of the little dino’s intentions: a giant heart, ribbons, smaller hearts dangling from springs, heart-shaped balloons, and fireworks, all much larger than Tiny. The project is clearly a labor of love: Tiny sweats, tugging a bucket of paint—“Pointy’s favorite color!”—but the bucket spills on the artist, not the valentine. Trying to make the card “extra fancy,” Tiny is covered in glitter. Tiny rips, snips, and rerips, trying to make the perfect heart; misspells Pointy; and glues springs and hearts all over everything. When Tiny apologizes for having no valentine for Pointy, Pointy recognizes immediately that the perfect valentine is a friend like Tiny.
A sweet reminder that love is best measured in actions. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-8489-0
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers.
A board-book ode to parental love as old as the dinosaurs.
A line of text on the left of each spread reads like a dinosaur-themed valentine that a third grader might choose, with punishingly punny wordplay that incorporates dinosaur-related words. On the facing page a dinosaur pair—a baby and an adult—gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes against whimsical, pastel-hued prehistoric-ish backgrounds. In smaller print, in all caps, at the bottom of the left page is the scientific name for the dinosaur referenced by the text and picture followed by a helpful phonetic pronunciation guide. White-outlined footprints appear next to their names, though the white is sometimes difficult to see against the pastel pages. Ten of the best-known dinosaurs are included. Twisting the dinosaur names to fit the loving sentiments succeeds some of the time but more often results in tortured text, well beyond the understanding of the board book audience. The line accompanying two hugging velociraptors, for instance, is just confusing: “Wrap-TOR arms around me, / with you I’ll always stay.” Others are just plain clumsy: “I-wanna-GUANODON you kisses, / I truly just adore you.” Very young children, even those fascinated by dinosaurs, will not get it. Older dinosaur fans will be put off by the babyish format.
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2295-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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