Dinosaur in My Pocket

by Ashleigh Barton, Blithe Fielden (Illustrator)

James loves two things more than anything in the dinosaurs and miniatures. So when his class goes on an excursion to a museum and James finds a miniature dinosaur in the gift shop, he can't help he steals the dinosaur. But as the day continues, James's guilt grows. And so does the dinosaur!The only thing that can cure James's guilt - and shrink the dinosaur back to its proper size - is doing the right thing.A warm-hearted cautionary tale for sticky fingers everywhere.

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Childrens

Kindle Edition

Published March 27, 2024

Reviews

[Teaching Little Fishies · Rating 5 out of 5]

🦖 Have you ever stolen something? Even something small? How did it make you feel? Did the feeling grow and grow until you just couldn’t hold it in?

🦕 James absolutely loves dinosaurs and while on an excursion to a museum, he steals a miniature dinosaur from the gift shop! Afterwards, James begins to feel guilty. As his guilt grows, so does the dinosaur!

🦖 This is a wonderful story to teach your children about the feelings they might get when they know they have done something that they know it wrong. A great book to show how we can make things right when we have wronged someone.

🦕 I really enjoyed reading this book and I think Ashleigh and Blithe have done a wonderful job at creating a valuable story with adorable images!

🧠 Teaching Point:
HONESTY — This book is a great way to explore honesty and how owning up to our actions can provide a positive learning opportunity.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

James loves dinosaurs and he loves collecting miniatures. When he goes to the museum with his class, there is a bright green, miniature triceratops in the museum shop. James has no money and temptation overtakes him, but the tiny dinosaur in his pocket grows, and grows, in tandem with his guilt. Eventually the dinosaur is so large his parents a drawn in and James confesses. there sensible solutions result in the return of the dinosaur and a pathway for James to earn enough money to buy it later on.

The bright and colourful illustrations add enormously to the story with James guilt and later relief clearly portrayed. The end papers are covered with examples of James' miniature collection.
A gentle story about honesty, truthfulness and taking responsibility for you actions with positive and affirmative and constructive parental intervention.

CBCA 2025 Early Childhood Notable title.

[Atlanta Bushnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinosaur in my Pocket by Ashleigh Barton & Blithe Fielden is a gorgeous picture book that would make a great addition to any classroom, school or home library.

It’s about a little boy called James who loves dinosaurs, and how that gets him into a little bit of trouble when he sees a toy dinosaur at the gift shop that he wants more than anything else!

The illustrations are wonderful! They are bright and colourful with lots of detail!

This books is aimed at early primary school aged children and I would highly recommend it!

4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Hachette Australia for the gifted review copy!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, flowing prose and simple but evocative illustrations tell the story of James who steals a tiny Triceratops (the overlap of his two loves - dinosaurs and miniatures) and then tries to live with the knowledge that what he'd done was wrong. As his anguish over his action grows so does the Triceratops as a perfect metaphor for guilt. While the book is definitely a morality tale about stealing there is plenty of scope for discussions about metaphor, the interplay of text and illustration, guilt and owning up to transgression. Highly recommended.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought about using this for Storytime, but it's too long. Still, I really liked it. It's a fun and silly story that teaches a lesson at the same time. The cover and the title are appealing to kids (and children's librarians, if I'm being honest). The lesson is wrapped up in the whimsy of the premise, which makes it enjoyable for everyone.

Solid picture book, even if it's not one I'd read in a Storytime setting. But I would certainly share it with my own children one-on-one.

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brilliantly portrayed that it’s not right to steal/shoplift because as a little kid, everything is so enticing and too often adults say no or you don’t have the money. The dinosaur’s growth mirrored the guilt in the young boy. Nicely done.

[Dimity Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever. Tender. Touching and terribly relatable. This is a great conversation starter and balm for those with a case of the guilts all in one. I loved it.