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The Dinosaur's Diary
Surviving and finding a safe place to lay her eggs is difficult for Hypsilophodon with dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex around. When she falls into a mysterious pool and finds herself on a modern farm there are still problems. Finally she finds a safe place to hatch her babies, but how can she keep thirteen baby dinosaurs safe and secret? When the farmer catches one - Hector - and plans to take him to the vet, it's up to Hypsilophodon and her fiesty daughter, Henrietta, to get him back. After a daring rescue, Hypsilophodon takes all her youngsters back through the mysterious pool to her own world.
***A perfect read-aloud book for children age 7+***
Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2001
117 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,232 books1,911 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 10, 2025
Bizzarro. Spassoso. Arguto.
June 17, 2020
Written in the style of a diary, this funny and lighthearted story explores the themes of friendship and bravery when managing unexpected situations, whilst encouraging further reading about all things dinosaur! The main narrative voice would be great for reading out loud as a class, and it would be fairly straightforward to set a creative writing task after reading together e.g. write your own dinosaur diary. There are some illustrations dotted throughout the book, so would be quite a good transition book for lower key stage 2.
February 12, 2018
I really enjoyed reading this to Joe. It's a v sweet story.
December 6, 2013
This is a story about a dinosaur who falls through a portal and onto a farm, as she explores and makes new friends, she learn lots about the human world and also becomes a mother. The story has a happy ending and the book is very humorous.
This is perfect for a year 2 class, it is engaging and there are plenty of opportunities to ask the children questions about the characters, the story line and also to make predictions on what will happen next.
This book can be read as part of story time or segment could even be bought in during topic lesson if they are studying living things as the book addresses certain misconceptions; such as the dinosaur calls a tractor a tractorsaurus and describes it like a living thing, this is a great way for children to identify their misconception of thinking that objects such as cars and bikes are alive, but in a light hearted way.
This book could also be used in older age ranges and an independent read.
This is perfect for a year 2 class, it is engaging and there are plenty of opportunities to ask the children questions about the characters, the story line and also to make predictions on what will happen next.
This book can be read as part of story time or segment could even be bought in during topic lesson if they are studying living things as the book addresses certain misconceptions; such as the dinosaur calls a tractor a tractorsaurus and describes it like a living thing, this is a great way for children to identify their misconception of thinking that objects such as cars and bikes are alive, but in a light hearted way.
This book could also be used in older age ranges and an independent read.
January 7, 2021
A really enjoyable story for a younger reader. The story explores the adventures of H, a dinosaur who finds a magic portal to our world where her children are born. The story is brilliant to explore new experiences, feelings and how important it is to support others.
So many cross curricular links with this story.
English - links to children writing their own diaries, exploring different characters. Science links - evolution, habitats, animals and birds, the food chain, physics. PHSE - feelings and worries. History - prehistoric. Geography - different environments.
So many cross curricular links with this story.
English - links to children writing their own diaries, exploring different characters. Science links - evolution, habitats, animals and birds, the food chain, physics. PHSE - feelings and worries. History - prehistoric. Geography - different environments.
September 21, 2020
La historia bien narrada y entretenida; solo me molestó un poco que la autora fuera tan cuidadosa en aclarar que la protagonista no conocía los objetos "hechos por humanos", pero de repente se le pasan algunos y, espontáneamente, no hay necesidad de aclarar qué es qué (por ejemplo, en el tractor). Lo que yo esperaba era que Henrietta le explicara qué era qué, pero ella tampoco tenía mucho cómo conocer los nombres (dejando de lado que haya aprendido a echarlo a andar).
Recomendable.
Recomendable.
February 25, 2022
For me, this was a three star book. An entertaining tale of a time travelling dinosaur mother.
For my seven year daughter, who loves dinosaurs and all things cute, it was a five star book, as its full of dinosaurs and especially full of cute baby dinosaurs. She found it funny and fun to read and really liked the diary format. It was pitched just right for her to both read aloud to me and to read to herself.
So, I've combined the two scores to give it four stars.
For my seven year daughter, who loves dinosaurs and all things cute, it was a five star book, as its full of dinosaurs and especially full of cute baby dinosaurs. She found it funny and fun to read and really liked the diary format. It was pitched just right for her to both read aloud to me and to read to herself.
So, I've combined the two scores to give it four stars.
January 25, 2025
So, I am not quite sure what I missed on this highly rated book. Though for children, the main character is an adult female with children vs a child. I listened to the narration of the book and found the voice purely irritating and was trying to place my mind in that of a child. I just couldn’t see the attraction and focused on this vs the “message” of the book,
July 1, 2017
my students loved it. They especially loved the tractorsaurus.
February 27, 2018
Six word reviews:
Written clearly for primary children. Autobiographical?!
Written clearly for primary children. Autobiographical?!
January 27, 2019
Time travelling dinosaur befriended by swallows. Surreal but fun
April 21, 2019
Such a great story full of humor and suspense and very informative as well. A joy to read.
July 8, 2020
Çok güzel bir çocuk kitabı. Öğrencilerime okutmayı planlıyorum. Dinazorların dünyasına minik bir kapı açmalarını sağlamış olacak bilgilerle dolu. Kitap içerisindeki resimler de ayrıca çok sevimli.
February 2, 2021
Read this for my 5 year old today what a gorgeous lil story highly recommend it 😍
May 6, 2021
Great read!
Makes a lovely bedtime story! Recommend for ages 6 to 10, hope you enjoy it a much as we did!
Makes a lovely bedtime story! Recommend for ages 6 to 10, hope you enjoy it a much as we did!
July 16, 2022
My 3 year old son really enjoyed me reading this to him.
January 2, 2024
Bellissimo e divertente perché aveva dei nomi strani appartenenti a dinosauri diversi e anche per la paura della mamma dinosauro e per il coraggio della piccola anche n non complicato e divertente da leggere con gli amici ve lo consiglio è detto questo Buona lettura a tutti e anche Buon anno ovviamente 2024 Ciao
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2019
Oh goodness. I don't really like to give negative reviews, but this was serious twaddle. Jack *really* wanted a book about dinosaurs, so I picked this one up despite the mixed reviews. It really was just ridiculous (and not in a clever way like Phantom Tollbooth), although he enjoyed it.
Warning: I'm guessing the author is a vegan because there are several comments inserted here and there about the horrors of humans eating animals or how awful it is that leather is made out of animal skin. My rating wouldn't likely have changed without those references, but they were so unnecessary and obvious that they really just made me roll my eyes.
Warning: I'm guessing the author is a vegan because there are several comments inserted here and there about the horrors of humans eating animals or how awful it is that leather is made out of animal skin. My rating wouldn't likely have changed without those references, but they were so unnecessary and obvious that they really just made me roll my eyes.
September 8, 2013
The Dinosaur's Diary is a story written from the point of view of a dinosaur called Hypsilophodon, who writes this story as a day to day diary. She has to struggle with keeping her eggs safe from predators. As this seems to be an impossible task due to the habitat she is in, she finds herself falling into a pool whilst being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The pool magically brings her into another world (modern day earth).
When Hypsilophoden discovers her new surroundings she is very timid and scared of this new place. She soon discovers that she doesn't need to be afraid as others are now afraid of her. Hypsilophoden still needs some guidance from her unknown surroundings and finds some friends with local swallows. They help her along her journey and find her a safe and secure place to lay her eggs, although, due to her naivety they have some laughs along the way!
The thirteen baby dinosaurs are kept from danger and are born in the farmers barn. Whilst growing up one of the dinosaurs (Horace) is taken by the farmer who wants to take him to the vet. The dinosaurs and the swallows come up with a plan to save Horace in which, they manage to all escape but inadvertently drive the farmers tractor into the pool where Hypsilophoden first arrived from. When they arrive back the other dinosaurs are now scarred of them due to having a big tractor.
I like the creativeness of the story and the underlying messages it sends across to its reader. The image on the front cover highlights that the dinosaur has problems and makes it interesting seeing a tractor in the background.
I think the age range would be from 7-9 year olds although early years could enjoy to this through class reading sessions.
The Dinosaur's diary could be used in the classroom for a variety of subjects and individual tasks. Firstly, I feel it sends out key PSHE messages through friendship, survival and family relationships. The message of teamwork comes through and this could be used when giving pupils tasks of 'working together'. It could be used in literacy lesson for punctuation skills and uses a lot of adjectives. The book also describes objects and gives a description on a jobs and people who help (vet). The story uses images to grab the readers imagination which could be used for pupils to write out their own perception of what happens next. The images also could also be used for the class to describe in small groups what is happening, which might bring out the visual learners best response. The images could be used for artwork where pupils design their own Dinosaur. Science lessons could be formed from looking at predators, food chains, adaptation, life process or species. Dinosaurs are always an interesting history subject or this story can link in with the creative curriculum theme of dinosaurs.
When Hypsilophoden discovers her new surroundings she is very timid and scared of this new place. She soon discovers that she doesn't need to be afraid as others are now afraid of her. Hypsilophoden still needs some guidance from her unknown surroundings and finds some friends with local swallows. They help her along her journey and find her a safe and secure place to lay her eggs, although, due to her naivety they have some laughs along the way!
The thirteen baby dinosaurs are kept from danger and are born in the farmers barn. Whilst growing up one of the dinosaurs (Horace) is taken by the farmer who wants to take him to the vet. The dinosaurs and the swallows come up with a plan to save Horace in which, they manage to all escape but inadvertently drive the farmers tractor into the pool where Hypsilophoden first arrived from. When they arrive back the other dinosaurs are now scarred of them due to having a big tractor.
I like the creativeness of the story and the underlying messages it sends across to its reader. The image on the front cover highlights that the dinosaur has problems and makes it interesting seeing a tractor in the background.
I think the age range would be from 7-9 year olds although early years could enjoy to this through class reading sessions.
The Dinosaur's diary could be used in the classroom for a variety of subjects and individual tasks. Firstly, I feel it sends out key PSHE messages through friendship, survival and family relationships. The message of teamwork comes through and this could be used when giving pupils tasks of 'working together'. It could be used in literacy lesson for punctuation skills and uses a lot of adjectives. The book also describes objects and gives a description on a jobs and people who help (vet). The story uses images to grab the readers imagination which could be used for pupils to write out their own perception of what happens next. The images also could also be used for the class to describe in small groups what is happening, which might bring out the visual learners best response. The images could be used for artwork where pupils design their own Dinosaur. Science lessons could be formed from looking at predators, food chains, adaptation, life process or species. Dinosaurs are always an interesting history subject or this story can link in with the creative curriculum theme of dinosaurs.
November 2, 2018
This is a story written from the point of view of a dinosaur called Hypsilophodon. She desperately wants to have babies, but is terrorised by some of the bigger, more aggressive dinosaurs. This means she’s not able to have babies where she currently lives, because the more predatory dinosaurs eat her eggs for dinner.
One day when she is fleeing for her life from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, she falls into a deep pool. When she finally emerges, she discovers she is in another world. Instead of being hunted, she is now one of the bigger predators. But she still has a timid mindset, and is initially scared of her new surroundings.
However, she soon makes friends with some local swallows. They show her to a local barn, where it is safe enough for her to lay her eggs and for them to hatch in peace. When her thirteen baby dinosaurs are born she has a job to look after them. When Horace, the smallest and slowest, is captured by the local farmer, Henrietta (the most bullish of her babies) comes up with a plan to save him. This they succeed in doing so, but in their getaway, they steal the farmer’s tractor. They inadvertently drive the tractor into the pond again and end up in the original dinosaur country where they first started. But this time the bigger dinosaurs are scared of the tractor and leave Hypsilophodon and her babies in peace.
I really liked the nervous central character of Hypsilophodon. Not what you’d immediately expect a dinosaur to be like! But the story really conveyed the emotion of Hypsilophodon and her fight to look after her babies and survive herself.
I also liked the relationships she had with the other characters, such as the swallows and her babies. I think children would really enjoy reading this book as well, which I would say is aimed at younger children.
It could be read to a whole class as it’s easy to follow and there are some nice illustrations you could show the class as well. It could also be used in 1-2-1 reading to help children’s development with their reading skills.
The story is quite easy to follow so you could question children on how well they have understood the story and why they liked it. I would have this book for children aged 6+.
One day when she is fleeing for her life from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, she falls into a deep pool. When she finally emerges, she discovers she is in another world. Instead of being hunted, she is now one of the bigger predators. But she still has a timid mindset, and is initially scared of her new surroundings.
However, she soon makes friends with some local swallows. They show her to a local barn, where it is safe enough for her to lay her eggs and for them to hatch in peace. When her thirteen baby dinosaurs are born she has a job to look after them. When Horace, the smallest and slowest, is captured by the local farmer, Henrietta (the most bullish of her babies) comes up with a plan to save him. This they succeed in doing so, but in their getaway, they steal the farmer’s tractor. They inadvertently drive the tractor into the pond again and end up in the original dinosaur country where they first started. But this time the bigger dinosaurs are scared of the tractor and leave Hypsilophodon and her babies in peace.
I really liked the nervous central character of Hypsilophodon. Not what you’d immediately expect a dinosaur to be like! But the story really conveyed the emotion of Hypsilophodon and her fight to look after her babies and survive herself.
I also liked the relationships she had with the other characters, such as the swallows and her babies. I think children would really enjoy reading this book as well, which I would say is aimed at younger children.
It could be read to a whole class as it’s easy to follow and there are some nice illustrations you could show the class as well. It could also be used in 1-2-1 reading to help children’s development with their reading skills.
The story is quite easy to follow so you could question children on how well they have understood the story and why they liked it. I would have this book for children aged 6+.
April 22, 2016
This book is a brilliant book for young children to transition from picture books to more grown up literature styles. The story is beautifully illustrated, again to keep the childrens' attention and I personally believe to assist the transition.
Julia Donaldson has completely hit the mark with this story, it has some unexpected twists and turns throughout and you never quite know what will happen next.
The characters are well established, with more information given as the plot progresses.
One dinosaur's quest to lay her eggs in a safe place, leads to a whole new world of adventure (time frames too), funny character names 'quackasaurus' 'tractorsaurus'. Each chapter is relatively short and easy to read through with children, whether it will be at the start of a literacy activity or just at the end of the day in story time.
Julia Donaldson also combines facts about the days of the week which could lead to some fantastic cross-curricular research projects that the children could undertake. Some examples of these projects could be: where do the planets names come from (linking it to space / science, literacy, history). Another projects could regarding creative writing, children would need to research a specific prehistoric time period (Jurassic/ Cretaceous) and the children fall into a pond like the main character and they travel back in time I would allow the children to decide as a class what they would like their character to do / what would happen to them? (This means the children are leading the learning within the classroom).
Julia Donaldson has completely hit the mark with this story, it has some unexpected twists and turns throughout and you never quite know what will happen next.
The characters are well established, with more information given as the plot progresses.
One dinosaur's quest to lay her eggs in a safe place, leads to a whole new world of adventure (time frames too), funny character names 'quackasaurus' 'tractorsaurus'. Each chapter is relatively short and easy to read through with children, whether it will be at the start of a literacy activity or just at the end of the day in story time.
Julia Donaldson also combines facts about the days of the week which could lead to some fantastic cross-curricular research projects that the children could undertake. Some examples of these projects could be: where do the planets names come from (linking it to space / science, literacy, history). Another projects could regarding creative writing, children would need to research a specific prehistoric time period (Jurassic/ Cretaceous) and the children fall into a pond like the main character and they travel back in time I would allow the children to decide as a class what they would like their character to do / what would happen to them? (This means the children are leading the learning within the classroom).
January 5, 2018
i learned nothing new from this book but i still enjoyed the plot. it is all about this small dinosaur called the hypsilophodon who finds it difficult to lay eggs without them being stolen or eaten by other larger and stronger dinosaur s who have days of the week called after them. while she runs from a big dinosaur she falls into a pond and thinks that she is going to drown instead of being eaten but she arrives to a farm safe and sound. she becomes familiar with the swallows who help her find a place where to lay her eggs and hide her babies from the farmer when they where born. after the hypsilophodon saves one of the baby birds from the cat the swallow helps back by helping the mother and the smartest dinosaur (Henrietta) get the baby (Horace who was also the weakest)that had been stolen by the farmer be brought back. at the end they get back to the prehistoric era through the duck s pond the same way the mother had arrived originally using the red tractor and scare the other larger dinosaurs away. she actually does get a day of the week called after her (H day) and everyone including her 13 babies are happy. my younger brother actually suggested this book and since it is only 103 pages long with plenty of illustrations i read it in an hour !
June 11, 2015
Gregor aged 8 : "That book was AMAZING"
July 15, 2015
Read to my 7 year old. Enjoyed reading it from the point of view of a dinosaur and written in a real diary form so a good read for a class of 7 year olds too!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews