Bang! Boom! Roar! A Busy Crew of Dinosaurs

by Nate Evans, Stephanie Gwyn Brown, Christopher Santoro (Illustrator)

What's that
Bang!
Boom!
Roar!

A busy crew of dinosaurs!
Engines fire, swing that hammer,
Cover your ears—it's quite a clamor!
But keep those eyes open wide,
Because the alphabet hides inside.
Find each letter—wait, there's more!
Big trucks, cool tools, and surprises galore!

Cool hard-hat dinosaurs jam-pack this rhyming alphabet picture book by New York Times bestselling author Nate Evans and Stephanie Gwyn Brown, brought to life by Christopher Santoro's hilarious and energetic illustrations. Kids will love looking for the hidden letters on each page and finding the visual jokes that lead to a supersilly surprise ending. Construction work may be tough, but even dinos love a little monkey business!

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Construction, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, School

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Nate Evans wanted to be a secret agent, a firefighter, or a magician when he was a kid. But he also loved to read and write, and he grew up to be the author of more than thirty-five children’s books, including the New York Times bestsellers Ponyella and The Jellybeans and the Big Dance, both cowritten with Laura Numeroff, and the series Humpty Dumpty Jr.: Hardboiled Detective, an IndieBound “Inspired Recommendation for Kids.” He also illustrated Laura Numeroff”s 10-Step Guide to Living with Your Monster, among others. You can visit him online at www.nateevans.com.

Reviews

[Margaret Chind]

Oh! How fun and cute is this book?! Definitely one to go on the list to buy for birthday gifts and such. Yes, it’s the epitome boy book, but my daughter loves it too. Have fun with learning alphabetical vocabulary with silly thoughts and rhymes. Study the pages filled with fascinating imagery, both illustrated by what looks like real picture, drawn pictures both computer and hand – it is a combination of many neat and interesting things. Use this as an I Spy book, or an ABC book, any way you try it is going to end in giggles and learning fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot on the inside covers both front and back there is a fun visual glossary of dinosaurs and equipment ready for even more fun staring and reading. This is a great time worthy book!

*Thanks to HarperCollins for providing an ARC for review.*



scheduled review: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2...

[Angel]

A fantastic book with a lesson in creating your own place to play with a help from some trusted friends. The rhyme scheme of the words and their association is steady and doesn't fall short. Each dinosaur character is shown and narrated in a way that lets the reader get to know each character as an individual in 3-D. This illustrated hardcover book was given to my son when he was nine by his teachers for Christmas. It is still part of his library collection today and he still enjoys this book from time to time. Very good refresher course in word usage and alliteration. I'd recommend this timeless family read.

[Erin]

This is one of those A to Z books but it's done well, unlike a lot of alphabet books. First off, the artwork makes this book, in my opinion. The colors are vibrant and there is a lot to see on each page to engage little readers. There are also hidden objects in this book for an added challenge. <- I just discovered this and I've read the book several times. Another thing I like about this book is the length of text for each letter. You get a paragraph with more than one word for each letter instead of a single sentence or a single word. There is also a list of dinosaurs with pictures and names in the front of the book and diggers in the back. The dinosaur list also indicates whether they are carnivores or plant eaters. Perfect for the nerd in you and your child. I was very impressed by this book.

[Karin]

Great for kids who are fascinated with big machines and construction projects. A lot of alliteration.

[Rochelle Sondae]

Alliteration! Hidden Objects! Dinosaurs! Trucks! It's all too exciting! This book is a ton of fun!

[Danica Midlil]

WOW! Dinosaurs AND Construction trucks! This book might have everything a growing little boy needs!
Wonderful rhymes, amazing vocabulary, and TONS of details to pour over! Great book!

[Jamie]

Alright, so I tried checking out an alphabet book for my 18 month old. I liked LMNO Peas so I got that one. After several attempts and never getting past 'h' before losing his interest we ended up returning that one and looking for another. I pulled out three and my son picked this one. I tried it out in the library and got all the way to the 'R' stanza before my son heard something and got distracted. He really likes looking at all the pictures- there's nice bright colors and so much happening that it is fun to look at and will flip through on his own. At home he actually let me get all the way through the end of this book. With nice rhymes, great pictures and dinosaurs and trucks, it was probably hard to go wrong for my son. So if your child didn't like LMNO Peas- give this one a try. Or if your child likes dinosaurs or trucks- give this one a try! :)

Just as a side note for alphabet books. It is not a "b is for...." It never actually says the letters. Instead there is a stanza for each letter like for "g" the first G is capitalized and a bubble letter and in a different color but besides that it is: "Grabber gobbles tons of grit./ Grasping grapple gets a grip./ Grader grinds the ground, Achoo!/ Giant sneeze! Green, gunky goo!"

[Rose Rosetree]

Do you happen to like any of these?

* Dinosaurs, in profusion
* Busy-busy trucks
* Illustrations that are not just lively but brightly colored to such an extent that -- to my eyes -- those illustrations are nearly surreal.
* Words that sound active, most of them evidently chosen mainly to convey pure delight in certain sounds, such as "Grader grinds the ground. Achoo!"

TOWARD THE END, OH... SO TEMPTING TO TELL A SPOILER

But I won't. I just applaud the over-the-top creativity
the wild, zany use of color
and the unflagging enthusiasm.

FOLLOWING THIS STORY REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING

It reminds me of how I used to feel as the main caregiver for my son, back when he was a toddler.

You know, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if just about any page of this book could lead to a wild pretend-play all around your home. Lotsa noise, lotsa laughter, from that so very contagious playfulness of Nate Evans!

[Kristen]

This was a pretty cute book about dinosaurs building an awesome park. My daughter really enjoyed seeing what each set of dinos was doing and speculating what it would turn out to be. There's a lot of onomatopoeia in the story. The illustrations were bright and colorful and I could swear that some parts of the pictures were real (like the concrete and sand) mixed with the animated dinos. This is a great book for construction and dino lovers.

[Anthony]

A construction crew of dinosaurs set out to build. This tale is told using each letter of the alphabet, as it describes the efforts and actions of the busy hard hart crew. The fun is finding each letter as they are used, and the different types of dinosaurs, tools, and heavy equipment used. A visual delight along with the story, and what was built.

[Stephanie]

This is a fantastic ABC book. The combination of dinosaurs and construction equipment was enough to keep the attention of my boys. I love how the inside cover shows whether each dinosaur was a plant or meat eater. Each letter of the alphabet was well done with multiple sentences showcasing the letter. Great read for little ones!

[Melanie Hetrick]

Dinosaurs work with tools and construction equipment to build a new playground. I would not use this book to "teach" the ABC's. I might use it to illustrate the sounds of the letters but it's not really useful as a teaching tool. Kids will love it as a dinosaur and construction book, though.

Not recommended for storytime.

[Alicia Thompson]

This may not be much but
My 20 year old dog loved this book I would read this to him every night til he passed, yes a dog.
he would look at the pictures look at my face & have his ears perked up slowly relax them lay on his pillow with his favorite blanket & fall asleep. He would be so excited when he saw I picked up this book, it's one of my best memories I would give it 10000 ⭐ if I could

[Tabi Hunt]

Copyright 2012. Genre Concept book. My boys loved the dinosaur and construction site theme. In my classroom, this book would be great in the classroom library or as a fun read aloud to reinforce the letter names with their sounds!

[Stephanie Reid]

It's a cute ABC book, flow is a little off

[Kimberly]

This one was a bit too busy and zany for me but I bet there are lots of tiny humans who would really appreciate this!

[Jean Doolittle]

Lively and fun! Searched for the boss on every page, but he was missing from several pages...he should have been somewhere on each full or double page spread.

[Paul]

Awesome alliteration
for abecedarians
on construction
plus dinosaurs
rhyme-time lovers
of children’s
poetry in motion.

[Heather]

October 2017

[Donna Mork]

Cute a, b, c book about dinosaurs on a construction crew. With rhyming.

[Jaclyn]

This one was ok. It would be great for kids that had an interest in dinosaurs

[Grant]

Dinosaurs, construction, and the alphabet. What's not to love?

[Hannah]

This book was difficult to read and the storyline was hard to follow.

[Jasen]

Not a fun book to read for parents & not interesting words for kids. Liked themes; poor language execution.

[Ryuto]

goud

[Anna Jewkes]

So fun! Lots of hidden pictures to find. Practically perfect for my Dino/construction/alphabet loving 4-year-old!

[Nadina]

It was cute enough with good rhyming and fun pictures, it just felt a little average over all.

[Erica Holwager]

This book is awesome. All 5 of my kids adore it and we do use it to teach ABCs.

[Blair]

Alphabet book with construction objects. A lot of illustrations on each page.

[Megan Cureton]

Bang! Boom! Roar! is a great story about a group of dinosaurs that are working together to build something. When the book first starts, it doesn't tell the reader what the dinosaurs are building, so this is what keeps the reader engaged. Throughout the pages, it describes some of the work that is being done to accomplish what they are building. On some pages it explains how they are digging and connecting things to get to what they are building. On every page you are trying to guess at what the dinosaurs are building and it just makes you that more excited to turn the page to see more. By the end of the book the dinosaurs had created this theme amusement park type thing and it was just neat to look at the illustration on the last page and finally see that everything has came together and how nice it looks. The images on the pages were so amazing. I had so much to look at and there was so much detail that before I could turn the page I had to make sure that everything was examined thoroughly. I would incorporate this into a dinosaur lesson maybe just for some humor, or even some instruction on how to build things. I also like that this book is great for the ABC's because each page starts with the next letter in the alpha bet. So the first word of the book started with an A so the first word on the next page started with a B and so on. Very creative!