Great Bookesaurus (Dinosaur Dinosaur - Kevin Lewis)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Dinosaur Dinosaur - Kevin Lewis
Date:	18/08/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to relate to and great illustrations

Disadvantages: Some clumsy rhyme

Dinosaur Dinosaur is a delight for young boys, a tale of a day in the life of a young dinosaur who behaves remarkably like his human counterpart aged between 3 and 6!

Written in rhyme the book progresses with a pace that's suited to the subject and, whilst the language is perhaps not as good as that seen in the likes of "The Gruffalo" with a few forced couplets it's still a delight to read. Youngsters seem to be able to relate to the activities of the dinosaur with ease and it's quite simple to take the story slightly off -piste, and, with the aid of the illustrations, expand the story into your child's own sphere of experience.

It's a book that would prove to be a great teaching aid to show that there are certain things which need to be done as part of the daily routine, however boring or annoying they might be.

The illustrations are wonderfully detailed, styled as pastel drawings but with a depth of colour more often associated with cartoon. The intricacy of the drawings is a delight and you could so easily build a tale around a double page spread on its own. There are even some great Dino jokes for the older child to spot. There's only one area where I think the illustration fails and that is when the dinosaur is, according to the text, "howly-yowly dinosaur, look the stars are out, tiny-whiny dinosaur, there's no need to pout". A perfect opportunity to show a young child how silly they look when they howl and pout was missed with the dinosaur appearing to be waving nicely goodbye to his friends.

There is both humour and love expressed in the illustrations and their human-like qualities really make the book. There's nothing remotely scary about the dinosaurs.

I would say that this book is most suited to boys aged between 3 and 7 as they will have the most capacity to relate to the tale and to discuss the pictures. Younger children will delight in the illustrations but, perhaps, not quite understand the relevance of the tale. Having said that, I don't think that this is exclusively a boys book nor does the child have to be interested in dinosaurs (it's just that those who are will see more in the book).

Recommended

Summary: A good rythmic book for youngsters