Dinosnores

Dinosnores

Such are the trembling sounds of the gigantic dinosnores. Not everyone knows that the earth used to be made up of one huge supercontinent –– until the loud snores of the dinosaurs caused the land to quake and split! Kelly DiPucchio's fun and boisterous take on a page out of history is brought to life in Ponder Goembel's colorful, fantastic world of flying pterodactyls and rumbling brontosauruses. Kindergarten-Grade 3–The dinosaurs are getting ready for bed, making all the necessary preparations: "They bathed, and brushed, and fluffed their ferns/around the dino site…/then laid their horns and spikes to rest/and kissed their eggs goodnight." Once cuddled under their various quilts and blankets, they all begin to snore. There are "bronto-booms, tricera-cries, raptor-rumbles, stego-sighs," etc. The noise becomes so raucous that it causes tumultuous seas and volcanic eruptions, and eventually the continent splits in two and drifts apart. The verse flows smoothly and contains some clever wordplay, but it is Goembel's art that steals the show. All of the necessary plates, spikes, and horns are there, but these brightly colored dinos are downright endearing as they curl up on pillows festooned with teddy bears or ducks, a claw or two thrown protectively over a sleeping baby. The detailed acrylic paintings are rich in texture but have clean, crisp lines that are pleasing to the eye. Pair this with Jane Yolen's How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (Scholastic, 2000) for a dino-mite storytime.– Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. PreS-Gr. 2. It's bedtime on the Jurassic plains--nice for dino parents and children, but not so nice for other creatures when huge dinosnores fill the air, stir up the seas, trigger earthquakes, and, later, cause the continent to divide, sending the dinos off to sea: "As for the rest. You may have guessed . . . It's ancient history." Puns, bouncy verse, and vibrant art combine for a fun read-aloud. Colorful, intricately detailed illustrations incorporate whimsical, sometimes silly details: sleeping dinosaurs, snoring and happily oblivious to the chaos they create with their "bronto-booms, tricera-cries, raptor-rumbles, stego-sighs." This creative approach to extinction is a bit peppy for bedtime, and an occasional word may baffle young listeners. All the same, this fun take on history is sure to entertain, amuse, and inspire plenty of hilarity among the younger set. Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “The verse flows smoothly and contains…clever wordplay…[B]rightly colored dinos are downright endearing.” (School Library Journal) “Puns, bouncy verse, and vibrant art combine for a fun read-aloud.” (Booklist) Kelly DiPucchio is the author of numerous children's books, including the New York Times bestselling Grace for President . She also wrote Dinosnores , What's the Magic Word? , and Bed Hogs . Kelly lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband and three children.