Is this literally a children's book? Yes. But I also only have the French language skills of a child. So I'm counting it dammit. You just try and stop me.
This book was a great opportunity for discussion about choices, how we treat others, and consequences for our actions. The kids gave it five stars and I have to agree. Luisa thought Tyrone deserved what he got!
A fun story that uses dinosaurs to teach the moral of cheaters never win in the end. I think most children would find this book enjoyable especially dinosaur lovers and it opens up a dialogue for parents to discuss the morals represented with their child.
Good moral tale. Dinosaur characters which might be of interest. Shows that cheating isn’t good and standing up for yourself to a bully/cheat is courageous. Cheating never comes good.
Characters: Bronto, a young brontosaurus (protagonist). A group of Bronto’s friends, an eclectic mix of dinosaurs. Rex, the larger tyrannosaur (antagonist).
Setting: Prehistoric forest/jungle/swamp.
Themes: Friendship, Fairness, Bullying.
Genre: CSULB Class 2 Picture Book, Deutsch, Animals
Summary: Bronto and a group of “classmates” (as they have backpacks), are out for a day of fun and games, but Rex finds exploits in the games the group of dinosaurs are playing and cheats his way to victory. As the other, smaller, dinosaur friends learn of his ruse, Bronto confronts Rex - but is intimidated and bullied. Bronto and his friends group together to trick Rex, sending him off toward a buried treasure but really a beehive trap. Bronto enjoys the fireworks of the evening with his friends, while Rex spends the night alone in the swamp.
Target Audience: Early Elementary, PreK-2 - Early Comprehension Skills
Curriculum Ties: Early Language skills, Golden Rule, Bullying
Personal response: As I speak no Deutsch, and the closest I’ve ever been to Germany is watching action movies, I found the illustrations capable of carrying the story without having to rely on the text. The intended lesson was easy to find. I was surprised that the story ended with the shaming of the antagonist and not with his integration into the group of friends (with a commitment to play fair).
I did find the part where Rex cheated at the dinosaur egg game to be unfortunate, as Rex is clearly using a thumb to stabilize his egg - and tyrannosaurs shouldn’t have those.
Reading is a HUGE struggle here. We were doing anywhere from 3-5 pages a day with most English books, and that's how this one started off as well. But today, we got into the more exciting part of the book, and suddenly I was hearing "I don't want to read my Turkish book today, I want to finish the English dinosaur book instead!"
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I made a deal to cut the agreed-upon number of pages on Turkish reading in half, and once we made it through those, we finished off this book- a total of eleven pages for today!!
Thank you, Hans Wilhelm, for allowing your books to be available online for educational purposes! This was one of my favourites as a kid, and it is the PERFECT level for what I need right now- a simple enough book to read, with just enough new vocabulary to keep us on our toes- but still a great book and an interesting subject for a 7 year old!
** spoiler alert ** Tyranno berulah lagi. Kali ini dia jadi pemain yang selalu curang di permainan-permainan nak-anak dino. Lucu deh, itu di sono ada juga permainan naruh telur di sendok trus dibawa jalan (di sini kelereng). Balap karung juga ada. Tyranno selalu menang karena kecurangannya. Tapi tak ada yang bisa berbuat apa-apa karena tidak ada saksi lain selain Igor.
Akhirnya Igor mendesain sebuah permainan yang akan mencelakai si curang.
Yo leí Tairon El Super Tramposo por Hans Wilhelm. Published by Editorial Andrés Bello.
Note: Hans Wilhelm has several free children books (pdf) available on Childrens Books Forever in several languages like Spanish, Japanese, French, and German.
Resisting the pressures of the local bully Tyrone, the leader of the Swamp Gang who wants everyone at school to follow him, Boland and his friends find more than their share of trouble when they choose to remain independent.