Rating: 5 stars
I give up. I think I'm going to hand over my blog to my friend Beth, whose book recommendations are out of this world. Maybe just maybe she'd like to add some of her own posts...with her critic Julia at her side...?!
This book is The Best Dinosaur Book we've read. Hand's down! Every time we read it one or both of the kids are bobbing their heads and tapping their feet (or fork, which I try not to encourage!) and we end up turning whatever floor is nearby in a dance floor. This is a shake-your-bootie book with an awesome rhythm and a "chorus" that Lorelei knew by heart after a few reads:
"Shake, shake, shudder / near the sludgy old swamp. / Everybody's doing / the dinosaur romp!"
Mitton introduces a few dinosaurs--the old faithfuls, triceratops and T-rex and stegosaurus--and throws in some new ones just to make me stop and wonder how the heck to pronounce them: deinosuchus, apotosaurus, deinonychuses (not a typo--it's different from the first one on this hard-to-say list). But really the best thing about the book is the beat, not the main characters (though dancing like dinosaurs is pretty fun, so Mitton was pretty smart...I mean, sometimes we like to dance gracefully like flamingos, but stomping around like crazy is the best!).
Oh--and the book is illustrated by the same guy who illustrated Giraffes Can't Dance, which is one of our family's favorite books ever. The dinosaurs all have huge grins on their faces and are really bustin' a move on their dusty dance floor.
My favorite part about this book, though, is the end. I'm just a sucker for sleepy beasts, and this book ends with all the dinosaurs getting tuckered out and falling asleep in one big reptile heap. I love my kids like crazy, but I really like them asleep, too.
I know my nieces are going to LOVE this one. I'm so excited to read it with them!
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