Say Hello to the Dinosaurs!

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From DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996) | Illustration © 1994 by Paul Stickland

The stories featured in my previous two posts -  You Must Bring a Hat  and  Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs  - aim for slightly older kids.

This week I’m sticking with the dinosaur theme and balancing things out by highlighting some picture books worth sharing with the youngest children. (So yes, that includes babies!) 

First up, a modern classic: DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996). The dog-eared copy I own was read with my kids countless times - and it still delights me! 

Stickland’s characterful dinosaurs are superb - bright, colourful and humorous. They are beautifully patterned and textured, thanks to Stickland’s slick watercolour/ink method of working wet in wet (which allows the colours to bleed into each other). Background detail is kept to a minimum, focusing solely on those glorious dinosaurs instead, whose colour pops against the crisp white background.

Based on the concept of opposites, we’re presented with a wide assortment of dinosaurs in playful prose that rolls off the tongue. For example:

 

Dinosaur sweet, dinosaur grumpy,

dinosaur spiky and dinosaur lumpy. 

 

You won’t find any complicated dinosaur names like Huehuecanauhtlus to wrangle within DINOSAUR ROAR!, which will relieve most parents of budding palaeontologists! So despite what some reviews would have you believe, I disagree that DINOSAUR ROAR! ‘helps educate young children in the variety of dinosaurs that once existed’. Stickland himself confesses that ‘some of them are based on real dinosaurs, some clearly are not…’ (which is no bad thing, in my opinion). As a kid, Stickland says he was passionate about dinosaurs, and his illustrations come from that place. (‘I loved drawing dinosaurs as a kid,’ he writes. ‘Most children do … they seem to be hard-wired for them.’) 

 

From DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996) | Illustration © 1994 by Paul Stickland

 

The humour is gentle and age-appropriate. For example, take the opening spread - a massive stomping dinosaur enters stage left, equipped with the most formidable-looking teeth and claws. A small green dino spots it - and drops his lunch (a berry)!

 

Dinosaur roar,

dinosaur squeak

 

From DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996) | Illustration © 1994 by Paul Stickland

 

Somehow, Stickland pulls the scene off without it being scary at all. Although the carnosaur’s mouth is open wide, it appears to be smiling - as though enjoying making the little one jump (instead of sizing it up for lunch). Elsewhere, a family of baby dinos gather playfully around their parent (one baby uses the long tail as a slide). On another spread, an enormous, bloated dinosaur lies back and uses a tree as a toothpick.

As mentioned, the rhyming prose contrasts opposite characteristics of the dinosaurs - right up until the final 2 spreads, when the pacing slows:

 

All sorts of dinosaurs eating up their lunch,

Gobble, gobble, nibble, nibble, munch, munch, scrunch!

 

From DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996) | Illustration © 1994 by Paul Stickland

 

That final scrunch! always felt so satisfying - and the accompanying illustration (showing a dinosaur playfully chomping down onto the word itself) has a playful twist.

DINOSAUR ROAR! is a lot of fun. It was a perennial favourite when my boys were young and will undoubtedly satisfy young dino fans and encourage them to seek out more. And the fact that it’s celebrating 25 years in print is a testament to the quality of the art and the simple text (which isn’t bad for a book initially self-published by the authors). 

 

From Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009) | Illustration © 2009 by Tim Warnes

 My other Story Worth Sharing is Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by myself (Macmillan 2009).

Dedicated it to my kids - ‘the mighty Levisaurus, and long-lost Dinosaur Jack’, it reminds me of fun times. (Dinosaur Jack - a fearless tracker and tamer of dinosaurs - was one of Noah’s many alter-egos!)

Like DINOSAUR ROAR!, Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! is a fun-filled introduction to the world of dinosaurs - perfect for reading together and aimed squarely at the youngest kids. As an added bonus, each dinosaur has a bumpy, scaly finish (so be prepared for scrabbling hands as you try to read!). But unlike DINOSAUR ROAR!, Say Hello is effectively a beginner’s guide to dinosaurs.

A cute, newly-hatched T-Rex - leaves its nest of siblings to wander through the book searching for its mummy. On the way, we’re introduced to a splendid array of specific dinosaurs, including Diplodocus, Ichthyosaur, Triceratops and a new one on me - the Spinosaurus. (I spotted a Spinosaurus many years later in one of the Jurassic Park movies and was pleased I knew what it was!)

 

From Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009) | Illustration © 2009 by Tim Warnes

 

Are you ready with your roars?

Let’s say hello to the dinosaurs!

Stegosaurus has plates on his back.

He swishes his tail as he stomps down the track.

Hello, Stegosaurus!

Swish, swash, swish!

 

From Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009) | Illustration © 2009 by Tim Warnes

 

Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! is written by a master of the game, Ian Whybrow. (His books include the series Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, and one of my favourite stories to read aloud - Little Wolf’s Book of Badness.) His chatty, friendly text is suitably interactive and straightforward in a few ways:

Each dinosaur is presented with a satisfying refrain (for example, Swish, swash, swish!) which young children can’t resist joining in with.

The final spread sparks further conversation:

 

Now we’ll play. A little game.

I’ll ask a question and you say the name!

 

For example,

Who looks like. A rhino but with three horns?

Who swims under the seagoing bubble, bubble?

Who’s the longest dinosaur in this book?

It makes for a fun ending that reinforces the educational element. (And years later, when your child bemoans comprehension tests at school, you can remind them how much they enjoyed it in this book!)

 

From Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009) | Illustration © 2009 by Tim Warnes

 

Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! is now in its 12th year - I hope it has the longevity of DINOSAUR ROAR! 

Finally, a word of warning (or rather, a confession). Following publication, my six-year-old neighbour ticked me off for illustrating a Pteranodon rather than a Pterodactyl as required by the text. Who knew?! (And there I was, thinking I’d done quite a job researching dinosaurs!) I guess it’s a lesson in never fully trusting things to be accurate. So if you have your own dino-obsessed kid who spots the mistake, my apologies. At least it will give them the smug satisfaction that they know more about dinosaurs than this grown-up!

 

From Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009) | Illustration © 2009 by Tim Warnes

 STORIES WORTH SHARING: DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland

Good to Read because:

It’s fantastic to read aloud

It introduces opposites as a concept

It will satisfy young dinosaur fans

The stunning artwork makes this a pleasure to share every time.

STORIES WORTH SHARING: Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes

Good to Read because:

It’s a fun-filled introduction to the world of dinosaurs

It will satisfy - and educate - young dinosaur fans

Children will love to stroke their bumpy scales and join in with the rhyming refrains.

GOOD TO READ

Picture books for young dinosaur fans

Albertine by Anna Currey

DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland

Daring Dinos by Jack Tickle

Say Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow and Tim Warnes

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‘an absolute winner’

- Booktrust

‘a visual extravaganza’

- Kirkus Reviews Buy UK* I EARN COMMISSION FROM THis LINK #AD/AFF 

‘Big, bold and fun.’

- GoodReads

‘a fun-filled introduction to the world of dinosaurs, perfect for reading together.’

- lovereading4kids Buy UK* I EARN COMMISSION FROM THiS LINK #AD/AFFSOURCESDINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland (Puffin 1996)Mrs B’s Book Reviews: Dinosaur Roar! 25th Anniversary Edition by Henrietta and Paul Sticklandwww.paulstickland.co.uk/Dinosaur-RoarSay Hello to the Dinosaurs! by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Macmillan 2009)© 2021 BY TIM WARNES(UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED)****USE OF THIRD-PARTY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FALLS UNDER FAIR USE/FAIR DEALING PRACTICE