We Don’t Eat Our Classmates

By Ryan T. Higgins

Disney Press, 2018. Picture Book. 48 p.

In this story Penelope Rex (a T. Rex) learns how to make friends. Rule number 1: Don’t eat them, not even a little bit. Penelope is very nervous to start school. She really wants to make friends, however when she first walks into her classroom and sees all the children she can’t help but gobble them up. Children are delicious. When her teacher sees this she very sternly tells Penelope “We don’t eat our classmates” and Penelope very apologetically spits them out. Obviously the children do not like being eaten and are justifiably annoyed with Penelope and do not trust her. This makes making friends very difficult, but Penelope doesn’t seem able to help herself. When an encounter with the class goldfish goes a little awry, Penelope learns just how not fun it is to be chomped on and learns to curb her appetite. The adorable illustrations and Penelope’s stuffed-animal look makes the story very fun. Higgins delivers a great paced and funny story that is very enjoyable for any reader.

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