NORMAN'S FIRST DAY AT DINO DAY CARE

A small dinosaur discovers that day care isn’t scary at all.

Plainly written to purpose, this first-day episode features a dino so tiny that viewers will have as much trouble as his puzzled classmates do spotting him in the first picture, peering out from behind the teacher’s leg. Norman initially disappears into a bucket of pencils or beneath a cushion whenever addressed. “I really want to join in, Miss Beak,” says little Norman, “but I feel shy.” “It’s okay to be shy,” she replies. “It’s a special part of who you are.” But Norman is so surprised to learn that even the comparatively humongous Jake has stage fright (“But you’re so big!” “It doesn’t mean my fears are small”) that his reserve is broken at last—and, after the two team up for a magic show, Norman understands that he has courage inside as well as shyness. The narrative’s precocious language may leave similarly timorous young listeners unmoved, but Julian’s small, diverse groups of fetchingly drawn dino-tots happily stacking rocks outdoors or engaged in other social activities inside beneath the pterodactyl teacher’s calm but watchful eyes (and also a wall poster wordlessly promoting the notion of evolution) promise a reassuringly positive experience.

Openly agenda driven, but easy on the eyes and low key in tone.