DINORELLA

A one-note Cinderella—composed in the key of D—from Edwards, a devotee of alliteration (Some Smug Slug, also illustrated by Cole, 1996, etc.) who spins a dervish of D-words featuring dinosaurs in this fractured fairy tale and starring Dinorella and her stepsisters, Doris and Dora. Dinorella attends the Dinosaur Dance at Duke Dudley's Den, compliments of a Fairydactyl, and comes upon the endangered Duke, about to be devoured by a dastardly deinonychus. Dinorella to the rescue—she hurls a dirtball, then a diamond, at the desperado. The alliteration begins to get away from Edwards, dictating the storyline and resulting in dialogue and descriptions that prove distracting after the first few pages. The story deteriorates further with name-calling: ``dopey domestic,'' ``disgusting dummy,'' ``dimwit,'' ``dingbat,'' and ``dumbhead.'' Cole dazzles in this dumbed-down classic, which goes from hilarious to tedious in very short order. (Picture book. 4-7)