SUPER RAWR!

Superheroes + dinosaurs = two great tastes that don’t necessarily go together.

It’s career day at Rawr’s school, and the class' sole dino has come with aspirations on full display as a superhero. Rawr explains a superhero’s attributes, including strength, speed, and flight (no mention is made of helping others). Later, when Rawr spots a broken fire hydrant and a treed kitten, it’s “SUPER RAWR to the rescue!” That night Rawr speculates that maybe it would be fun to be an astronaut instead, so dreams of “SPACE RAWR to the rescue!” close the book (though Rawr’s still dressed like a superhero, with nary a spacesuit in sight). It’s difficult identifying what precisely Doodler is trying to say here about heroes. Rawr is already a gigantic dinosaur, so adding a caped-crusader element is gilding the lily. Is the book trying to say that you can be heroic in your everyday life? Maybe so, but swallowing large amounts of water from fire hydrants and lifting kittens from trees falls squarely into the “dinosaur” rather than “everyday hero” slot. The text only adds to the confusion. Rawr explains what a superhero can do, including “A superhero can hold the world in one hand” (a classroom globe). Never mind that this is more a godlike trait than a superpower.

This book’s squishy cover is not the only padded thing here.