Nice-enough bedtime fare for toddler dinophiles.
Nursery favorites “Humpty Dumpty,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and more are rewritten with dino roars and stomps.
This board book is a straightforward compilation of nursery rhymes and songs. While many will be familiar after a few lines, since many are renamed to suit the dinosaur theme, readers may sometimes find themselves muddling through pacing, tune, and rhythm until they catch on. Some changes are as simple as editing a single word. In “Rock-a-bye Dino,” all of the instances of the word “baby” are changed to “dino”—nothing more. Others, such as “Five Little Dinosaurs,” a take on “Five Little Pumpkins,” are more elaborately reimagined. “Star Light, Star Bright” is the only included rhyme with no edits; accompanying it is a picture of a young regaliceratops clutching a teddy bear and looking out the window at the titular star. Overall, Rešček’s illustrations are sweet and suitable to a bedtime book for little ones. The images include enough details to engage readers with thoughtful touches, such as a bird gently laying a leaf as a blanket across a sleepy dinosaur. The colors are bright and child-friendly, and the dinosaurs are all endearing, with perky noses and expressive eyes. With a gift plate printed into the front endpaper, it’s clear that this is designed to be a gift to a family for a new baby. It’s a nice take on the standard book of lullabies even if the rewrites sometimes make for slightly awkward read-alouds.
Nice-enough bedtime fare for toddler dinophiles. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68010-589-6
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
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Young dino fans will enjoy it, though their grown-ups may not.
What sounds did dinosaurs make? We don't really know.
Litton suggests some possibilities while introducing sophisticated vocabulary in a board-book format. Five dinosaurs are featured: Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Diplodocus, and Triceratops. For each species there is a brief description that highlights its distinctive features, followed by an invitation to hear and repeat the dinosaur's sound. There is no explanation for why scientists think T. Rex “roared,” Stegosaurus “howled,” Pterodactyl “screeched,” Diplodocus “growled,” or Triceratops “grunted.” The author tries to avoid sexism, carefully referring to two of the creatures as “she,” but those two are also described in stereotypically less-ferocious terms than the male dinos. The touch point on the Pterodactyl is a soft section of wing. Readers are told that Diplodocus “loved splashing in swamps,” and the instruction is to “tickle her tummy to hear her growl,” implying that this giant creature was gentle and friendly. None of this may matter to young paleontologists, who will enjoy finding the tactile section on each creature that triggers the sound. Despite extensive directions in small print, most parents and libraries won't bother to change the battery secured by a tiny hex screw, but while the battery lasts, the book will get lots of play.
Young dino fans will enjoy it, though their grown-ups may not. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58925-207-3
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies
It's not the first time dinosaurs have been featured in a clever Boynton board book. It seems she—and we—can't get enough.
As her fans know, Boynton has a sly wit that respects the intelligence of her young fans and amuses the adults asked to “read it again.” In this book she introduces nine dinosaurs, each of which dances in a way that seems totally appropriate for that particular species. “The blue Stegosaurus goes SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE. / The red Brontosaurus goes QUIVERY QUAKE.” Drawing on her experience as a children’s musician, she writes a text that trips along like a song with rhymes that make sense but don't intrude. The illustrations, typical Boynton, reflect her greeting-card background. They are cartoonish but manage to capture the unique personality of each creature. The unnamed dinosaur narrator looks genuinely distraught at not being able to name the “tiny little dino” that “goes DEEDLY DEE.” Spoiler alert: the tiny little dinosaur is probably Compsognathus and would be about the size of a small chicken. Young dinophiles would be impressed if the dinosaurologists in their lives could supply that factoid, but alas, they will have to look it up.
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8099-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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