How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague

Rating: 2 stars

We are pretty crazy about dinosaurs in this house right now.  From my perch here at the computer, I can see five books of our very own and I know there are three more from the library in the library stack in the playroom.  After reading a dozen or more dinosaur books, I am a little confused about the role that they should take in kids books.  Should they be soft and cuddly like the triceratops in The Littlest Dinosaur, funny as can be like those in Dinos on the Go, cute but still pretty fierce like Dinosaurs Galore, fun playthings that sometimes come alive as pets like in Sammy and the Dinosaurs, or...pretty scary and huge and not-so-nice like in How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

As you can see from my low rating, I don't think that Jane Yolen quite got it right this time.  This series of books is so popular--and this book in particular--that I am left scratching my head.  In this book, dinosaurs do a bunch of not-so-nice things like slap their parents hands, throw sand, mope through nap time, flood the house, and a bunch of other things that I'd prefer not Lorelei and Ben visualize.  Then, the parents forgive the dinosaurs when they blow kisses, or clean up, or hold their hand.  I am lucky to have kids who don't do all of those things (yet?!) and while of course I'd love them as they did all those things, I surely don't want to encourage it.

So I'm perplexed on this one.  Help!  Are they favorites in your house?  If so, what do you like about them (or what do your kids like about them)?  I just don't understand why every list I've ever found (practically) recommends this book!