Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!

From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1–Eleven species of dinosaurs are shown doing what they love to do, from stomping to swishing their tails to gulping down leaves. “Immense Diplodocus loved swish, swish, swishing, long tail flicking and fast whip, whipping, enemy surprising and–smack!–scaring. So swish, Diplodocus, swish!” Individual spreads show typical behavior for each, but the final page imagines them “in a grand parade with no fighting allowed and no one afraid!” Endpapers label the various dinosaurs with their names and pronunciations. The cut-paper collage illustrations are bold and bright, blocky and stylized. The colors pop and the scenes are full of movement. The swirling layout of the variously sized text reinforces the dynamic feeling of the illustrations, but makes the words difficult to read. This problem is compounded because the story features some mildly challenging vocabulary and a somewhat awkward rhythm. The look and feel of the book aim it at a very young audience, while the length and level of the text may not hold their attention. The topic and compelling illustrations will capture children's attention, whether or not they engage with the text. However, with so many dinosaur books available, there is little reason to settle for anything less than stellar.–Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FLα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. MARGARET MAYO has written several books for very young children about trucks, rescue vehicles, construction vehicles, and animals on the move. She lives in England with her husband and their three children. ALEX AYLIFFE has illustrated many books for children. She has traveled throughout Europe, Africa, and Australia, but calls England home.