DINOS DRIVING

Buckle up, young dino!

Eight species of dinosaurs from across geologic periods are featured, each paired with a type of motor vehicle. The nearly all-white backgrounds keep children’s full attention on the dinosaur and vehicle introduced on each double-page spread. Iguanodon drives an electric vehicle, while Triceratops and their friends prefer motorcycles. Tyrannosaurus Rex drives a monster truck, while Carnotaurus makes a living driving a limousine. Diplodocus drives a bus, while Brachiosaurus dreams of driving a Jeep—but only when she’s old enough to do so. The concept of the book is interesting and gets a big lift from four appended suggestions for caregivers on engaging readers and honing their critical-thinking skills. The text is spare; a phonetic pronunciation guide to some of the more unusual dino names would have been appreciated. (We’re looking at you, Compsognathus!) This is a minor quibble, however, and the watercolorlike illustrations do a lot of heavy lifting to promote the humor of each new page—children will gleefully note that most of the huge creatures are themselves crammed into relatively tiny vehicles. Young readers who sit firmly in the Venn diagram overlap of dinosaur lovers and car enthusiasts will be thrilled, and with the right guidance, those outside of that overlap will be interested as well. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Amusing fun from the “Car”-taceous era!