Stomping Around In A Storm (Dance of the Dinosaurs - Colin Hawkins)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Dance of the Dinosaurs - Colin Hawkins
Date:	29/05/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great to read aloud

Disadvantages: none

***Background***

Colin and Jacqui Hawkins share the responsibility or writing and illustrating this rhyming book and this is a partnership that has worked extremely well in the past with many books that will encourage young children to read.

***The Story***

The book starts with a picture of a boy and girl in their beds while a storm rages outside.

"Lightning flashed on a wild, stormy night
And Georgie and Dee shivered in fright.
'Come on,' said Cat. 'Don't be afraid!
I'll show you both how a storm is made.'"

The children follow the cat down the stairs and outside into the woods where they see a hot air balloon. They all get in and the balloon travels to a strange land that is filled with flying lizards that the children soon recognize as being dinosaurs.

The balloon lands and the cat takes the children to a place where the Dance of the Dinosaurs is taking place. It's not long before the children are enjoying the atmosphere and are dancing along with the huge beasts.

The children see that the teeth of the dinosaurs cause the flashes in the sky and the shaking rumbling noises are in fact the dinosaurs' feet.

At the end of the dance they see that the storm has stopped and the children get back in the balloon and return to their beds. The story ends with the children feeling safely tucked up in beds and...

"And far, far away...

...The Dinosaurs dreamt under the starlight
Of another Dance on another night..."

***The Illustrations***

The pictures in this storybook are drawn with lots of energy and bright colours. Textured layers give them a realistic burst of life and you almost feel like the dinosaurs will jump off the page as you go through the book. The text is bold and black and written on a white background at the bottom of each page.

***My Thoughts***

I always love rhyming books and we've had quite a few now from this pair of author/illustrators. This one has a lovely rhythm to it that peaks and flows as the story progresses, making you really feel like you are taking part in the story.

My son has a passion for any book that has dinosaurs in them so this one was sure to be a favourite of his right from the beginning but the fact that it contains excitement, movement and lots of clever rhymes that he can join in with means that he reads it with so much enthusiasm and feeling when reading it out loud.

You get the feeling that some books are really only meant to be read quietly but this book screams to be read and shared out loud and this is great when you are trying to encourage a child to learn this important expressive art.

The illustrations are really fantastic in this book and the addition of a cute but fat cat and a toy dinosaur that springs to life in the bedroom and accompanies the children means that a younger child can really enjoy seeing the story told through a series of pictures whilst a parent reads it to them.

The couple of lines of text on each page also means that a younger child won't get easily bored and will be excited to turn the page to find out what happens next. I feel this is also an ideal book for putting a child at ease when a storm is raging outside. It shows them that there is nothing to worry about and gives them something fun to think about.

This is one book I would definitely recommend for anyone scared of thunder and lightning.

***Other Books By These Authors***

Fairytale News
Pat The Cat
Tog The Dog
Jen The Hen
Zug The Bug
The Numberlies
Foxy In The Kitchen
The Spooks

***Price & Availability***

This large paperback is available for the publishing price of £5.99 but Amazon have it on sale at the moment for the bargain price of only £3.00.

ISBN No. 0007114443

Summary: Great book for any child that is scared of stormy weather.