What do you think?
Rate this book
Act Normal #1
Act Normal And Don't Tell Anyone About The Dinosaur In The Garden
Act Normal! - the bestselling series of children’s chapter books for girls and boys (ages 5-9).
Learn about DNA and the building blocks of life with Jenny and Adam…
Jenny’s latest experiment has accidentally turned her chickens into tiny dinosaurs. Her brother, Adam thinks this is great, and decides to feed the same experiment to some ostriches at a local farm…
Jenny is used to strange things happening in her life, and thinks the best move is to just ACT NORMAL, but can they escape from the giant ostrich-dinosaurs and get everything back to normal before the people of the town start to notice?
Read the book to find out…
Learn about DNA and the building blocks of life with Jenny and Adam…
Jenny’s latest experiment has accidentally turned her chickens into tiny dinosaurs. Her brother, Adam thinks this is great, and decides to feed the same experiment to some ostriches at a local farm…
Jenny is used to strange things happening in her life, and thinks the best move is to just ACT NORMAL, but can they escape from the giant ostrich-dinosaurs and get everything back to normal before the people of the town start to notice?
Read the book to find out…
68 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 6, 2017
Summary:
Jenny likes to do experiments. When her Dad tells her not to eat a lot of candy and sweets, because of the bad chemicals, Jenny gets an idea. She makes three bowls filled with a variation of microwaved pop, crispy snacks, and sweets. The first bowl of experiment, she feeds to the chickens. The next day, the chickens have turned into dinosaurs! She races to get rid of the rest of the experiment, but her brother Adam has already fed some to the birds, ostriches, and fish at the farm! Jenny and Adam try desperately to wrangle up the dinosaurs to no avail. Jenny tells her Dad what is going on and he is able to contact the Prime Minister to resolve the issue.
5 Higher Level Questions:
1) Was it right for the character to take the kids candy and soda for herself? Why or why not?
2) What plan would you carry out if this situation happened to you?
3) Was it better to hide the issue from the adults for a few days than to tell them right away?
4) Compare how Jenny and Adam handle the dinosaurs.
5) What is a different way Jenny could have solved the dinosaur problem other than feeding it more of the experiment mixtures?
Darkin , C. (2014). Act Normal - And Don't Tell Anyone About the Dinosaurs In the Garden. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Jenny likes to do experiments. When her Dad tells her not to eat a lot of candy and sweets, because of the bad chemicals, Jenny gets an idea. She makes three bowls filled with a variation of microwaved pop, crispy snacks, and sweets. The first bowl of experiment, she feeds to the chickens. The next day, the chickens have turned into dinosaurs! She races to get rid of the rest of the experiment, but her brother Adam has already fed some to the birds, ostriches, and fish at the farm! Jenny and Adam try desperately to wrangle up the dinosaurs to no avail. Jenny tells her Dad what is going on and he is able to contact the Prime Minister to resolve the issue.
5 Higher Level Questions:
1) Was it right for the character to take the kids candy and soda for herself? Why or why not?
2) What plan would you carry out if this situation happened to you?
3) Was it better to hide the issue from the adults for a few days than to tell them right away?
4) Compare how Jenny and Adam handle the dinosaurs.
5) What is a different way Jenny could have solved the dinosaur problem other than feeding it more of the experiment mixtures?
Darkin , C. (2014). Act Normal - And Don't Tell Anyone About the Dinosaurs In the Garden. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
November 2, 2017
This book follows Jenny who is not very normal. She thinks outside of the box. She and her little brother go to a birthday party and Jenny collects candy, chips and some 'fizzy drinks'. She decides to do a little experiment, which ends up changing her family's chickens and other animals into DINOSAURS! She along with the help of her little brother have to try and find a way to turn the dinosaurs back to normal.
This book would be a funny and great introduction to experiments. The lesson to be learned from this book is that following directions, and not doing unauthorized experiments is the safest thing for everyone. Otherwise the family chickens could be turned into dinosaurs. The key point is to go over with kids what is expected during experiments as well as the dangers of experiments and some of the chemicals that are used.
Darkin, C. (2014). Act Normal and Don't Tell Anyone About the Dinosaur in the Garden. Read It Yourself Chapter Books.
This book would be a funny and great introduction to experiments. The lesson to be learned from this book is that following directions, and not doing unauthorized experiments is the safest thing for everyone. Otherwise the family chickens could be turned into dinosaurs. The key point is to go over with kids what is expected during experiments as well as the dangers of experiments and some of the chemicals that are used.
Darkin, C. (2014). Act Normal and Don't Tell Anyone About the Dinosaur in the Garden. Read It Yourself Chapter Books.
February 10, 2025
Really good for a child to read independently. I found it entertaining as an adult!
I bought this book for my 6-year-old nephew and also read it on my Kindle. It’s a fun and entertaining read, though quite short—likely designed for young readers to enjoy independently. I’m confident my nephew will love it since he’s a big fan of both reading and dinosaurs. My only concern was the inclusion of a toy gun used to shoot at the dinosaurs. While it’s just a toy with fake bullets, I’m not sure I’d want him reading anything involving guns.
I bought this book for my 6-year-old nephew and also read it on my Kindle. It’s a fun and entertaining read, though quite short—likely designed for young readers to enjoy independently. I’m confident my nephew will love it since he’s a big fan of both reading and dinosaurs. My only concern was the inclusion of a toy gun used to shoot at the dinosaurs. While it’s just a toy with fake bullets, I’m not sure I’d want him reading anything involving guns.
February 21, 2015
This little book is a real gem. As a stepping stone for children's education, it's enormous fun, and who doesn't like dinosaurs? (even if they're biting your bum!) From the wide-eyed dad who's having difficulty guiding his somewhat brilliant daughter, to his endearing little tank of a son who isn't afraid of anything, you can't help but love the characters. There's so much packed into this one-sitting read that you'll wonder how the author did it. Great pictures in there, too. A must buy.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews