Dinosaur Vs. The Library

Dinosaur is roaring to the library! Roar roar!

That's pretty much how this story goes. Dinosaur decides to go to the library. He meets animals along the way and announces, "Dinosaur versus...a cow [or whatever animal]!" Roar roar roar! Dinosaur wins! (Dinosaur wins every time. Just by roaring--he doesn't actually attack them.) Each animal follows after Dinosaur on the way to the library, roaring too. In the end, Dinosaur has to learn to roar with his library voice, and he and the library both win.

This book is super cute, and it's perfect for reading aloud to preschoolers, who will love to roar along. It's actually one of several Dinosaur Vs. books. We've read Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime, and it's just as cute. (I prefer Dinosaur Vs. The Library, but that's because I'm a nerd.)

Dinosaur Vs. The Library
Written and illustrated by Bob Shea
Age range*: 2-5
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

I Met a Dinosaur

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose these books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

A little girl visits the Museum of Natural History, and after that, she imagines dinosaurs everywhere. (In a fun way, not a scary way.) Her parents sometimes say, "Oh no, that's a raccoon," or whatever, but the girl continues to imagine dinosaurs.

I like it. The illustrations are gorgeous and show the dinosaurs as she imagines them. I also like that a girl is the main character--dinosaurs are so often associated with boys. And if your kid (or you) is really into dinosaurs, there's a page at the end with facts about the dinosaurs that appear in the book.

I Met a Dinosaur is available from Amazon.com
Written and illustrated by Jan Wahl & Chris Sheban
Age range: 3-6 (Age ranges are very flexible.)

Dinotrux

Dinosaurs and trucks. Together. Genius, right?

Little Boy loved Dinotrux. What little boy doesn't love dinosaurs and trucks? The premise is pretty simple: dinosaurs [made of car parts, Transformer-style] roamed the earth long ago, but they eventually rusted out and became extinct.

The story talks about several dinotrux, which have names like "dozeratops" and that do truck-ish kinds of things. It's kind of a clever book. If you have a little boy at home, you should definitely check it out.

Dinotrux is available from Amazon.com

Written and illustrated by Chris Gall
Approximate age range*: 3-6

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose the reviewed books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

This one's kind of a classic. Different types of dinosaurs model bad bedtime behavior (roaring, throwing teddy bears) and then good bedtime behavior (turning out the light, tucking in their tails).

The illustrations are funny, and each dinosaur's type (stegosaurus, triceratops, etc.) is hidden in the illustration of the page the dinosaur appears on.

Little Boy's been pushing his bedtime behavior a little bit lately. And...I can't honestly say that this book changed it at all. But it was worth a shot--and it's still a fun story to read. I think we'll be picking up a few more How Do Dinosaurs... stories from the library.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight
Written and illustrated by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
Age range*: 2-5
My rating: 3 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.