Katie and the Dinosaurs

Katie

by James Mayhew

Entering a door at the Natural History Museum marked "No Admittance," Katie finds herself in the world of the dinosaurs. She helps a baby dinosaur find his family, rides on the back of a Brontosaurus, and has a picnic with a Triceratops. But just what will she feed a very hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex?

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

James Mayhew's first book for children was Katie's Pictures Show, (Orchard Books 1989) establishing the long running series about a child's adventures in an art gallery. Many of his books have a cultural agenda and James is passionate about introducing children to art, music, opera, ballet and traditional tales.

He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.

As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).

He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.

James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

I got this book because when I was a little girl (and called Katie!) I loved dinosaurs! They were exciting and fascinating and like some bit of "magic" that existed once and still baffled grown-ups!

So, it's funny and fitting that this story reminds me of one I would have written as a kid. Katie and her Grandma go to the natural history museum and Katie skips off to look at the dinos while Grandma snoozes. Katie finds a door that she really SHOULDN'T open, but she goes in anyway and is transported to the land of the dinos. She meets a cute little dino and they become friends while she helps him reunite with his family (he got lost!) and keep away from the T-Rex. Along the way, they meet lots of other dinos and, of course, Katie eventually comes safely back to the museum after her fun and exciting adventure.

There is nothing brilliant here, but I think I would have loved it as a kid!!! As it was, it made me feel terribly nostalgic! :-)

(I'm just realizing there is apparently a whole Katie series that I guess I'll have to explore, haha!)

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think Mayhew really needed to write this book. I guess the thought was that you see dinosaurs in museums like you see paintings in museums. The information provided is nothing special and may be found in dozens of other dinosaur picture books, most without the same old hook of Katie's mishaps.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Katie book and a must re-read a few days before going to the Natural History museum in London.
Exciting, gorgeous pictures and so much more.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for beginning to think about dinosaurs. It explores a range of different dinosaurs and touches on whether they are herbivores or carnivores. Children will really enjoy the sense of adventure as they follow Katie. They will also love spotting the T-Rex following Katie throughout! Well-written with attractive illustrations. The back page identifying different dinosaurs and how to pronounce their names is a nice touch.

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another brilliant addition to the Katie series and a must-read before visiting the Natural History Museum in London to see the excellent dinosaur exhibition (or any similar museum with dinosaurs on display!)
I love how the books in this series are set in art galleries and museums and make them accessible and interesting for little ones, while encouraging them to let their imaginations run wild.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a magical, adventurous book! The come-alive concept never gets old and allows for young children to wonder about how a day spent with dinosaurs would feel like. The children in my class loved the story and the beautiful illustrations so much that they wanted to draw about dinosaurs straight after hearing the story.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Except why is grandma so grouchy in the beginning? She seems so different from how she was in Katie In Scotland. Nothing ground breaking here about dinosaurs, but it was entertaining. We read it with the Jurassic Park soundtrack playing in the background, which amused the 10yo while the 6yo and 7yo were really into the story itself.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katie visits a dinosaur exhibit where she learns about the different dinosaurs that lives in the land before time. It teaches younger readers about the different types of dinosaurs and their scientific names.

[The Campbell Family · Rating 4 out of 5]

They both enjoyed this book about all different dinosaurs; we were reminiscing about how much they loved the show Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. It reminded us of that!

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand ludicrous and bizarre and on the other, a great way to learn some dino names!

[Asher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't necessarily think this is an excellent children's book but my boys absolutely loved it!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry in the Katie series. The illustrations are beautiful (and fairly accurate), the story has just enough scariness with a silly resolution to be entertaining.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute introduction to some of the more popular dinosaurs. It is interesting to see how paleo illustrations have changed so much in almost 30 years.

[Keverlee Burchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not impressed by this one by the three year-old enjoyed it immensely. I found it to be poorly written.

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story, but not painting based as other books are in the series

[Neha S R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anokh, Age 5:
There's dinosaurs, which are my favorite creature.

[FM Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the Katie series but this one isn't at the top of my list. I didn't think a non-art Katie book would work as well, and reading this one didn't change my mind. That said, it's still a fun dinosaur story if you go in without expectations. My 3 year old loved it and requested it again and again - more than I felt like reading it :).

I think the Katie books that work the best are those where she has a kid as a friend she's running around with, like Katie's Sunday Afternoon, Katie and the Sunflowers, or Katie meets the impressionists. But the story still works and introduces kids to a number of great paintings and painters. Definitely worth a read. My three year old enjoyed this, and the other Katie stories, and requests them often!

[boeken lezen (en onthouden) · Rating 3 out of 5]

De tekeningen zijn mooi, maar er ZOVEEL tekst. Ik denk dat we erg verwend zijn met de vele, vele topboeken die we dit jaar al lazen, want ik mist hier wat grapjes en plotwendingen.

[katherine (winnie) 🏹 · Rating 5 out of 5]

felt like going back and rereading my childhood faves. originally gave this a 3 stars but on this read bumping up to 5, i'd forgotten how much i loved it. and my name as a kid was katie so that used to be so damn cool lmao. didn't realise these books were like in a series - will have to look out for the others!

[Karen Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Katie book but this one doesn't involve any paintings. It's the dinosaurs that come alive as she visits the museum. A lovely sciencey theme that would be a great lead in story for a science unit on dinosaurs.

[Lynette ~ Talia's Tomes ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best children's books ever!!!!

[Melanie]

Very story heavy-like Carrick