Five Faves: Dinosaur Picture Books

As a kid, I had several unrealistic career paths chosen for myself. I distinctly remember in fifth grade debating between an NFL player and an opera singer. LOL! But one dream job was a little more realistic than the rest and just as exciting to think about --a paleontologist. Not much is cooler than getting paid to find dinosaur bones, except for maybe reading books about dinosaurs. Read on, dinosaur lovers!

Granny Rex
Written by Kurtis Scaletta
Illustrated by Nik Henderson
Petaluma, CA: Cameron Kids, 2023. Picture Book.

A tiny bird getting pushed around by a mean hawk gets inspiration from her ancestor --the mighty dinosaur!

Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur?
By Helen Yoon
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2023. Picture Book.

A little girl has lost her best friend --an invisible dinosaur! She's searched high and low, with no luck. What's a girl got to do to track down her invisible pal?

Parker's Place
By Russ Willms
New York: Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2023. Picture Book.

A T-Rex named Parker really wants to fit in and find his place at a farm, but no jobs seem suitable for a dinosaur. Will some helpful chickens find the perfect spot for Parker before he gives up?

Penny & Pip
Written by Candace Fleming
Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. Picture Book.

On a museum field trip, a young girl named Penny notices a sauropod egg hatching. Penny and the baby sauropod, who she names Pip, have fun going through the museum together until Penny realizes that Pip is the only dinosaur left. She has to figure out a way to take care of her new friend and get him out of the museum!

10 Things I Love About Dinosaurs
Written by Samantha Sweeney
Illustrated by Rob McClurkan
Wilton, CT: Random House Distribution, 2024. Picture Book.

A small boy's favorite thing in the whole world is dinosaurs and he's going to tell you the top 10 reasons why!

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Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

Review: Super Boba Cafe

Super Boba Café By Nidhi Chanani New York: Amulet Books, 2023. Comics. 215 pages. 14-year-old Aria is excited to spend her summer in San Francisco getting quality time with her Nainai. She loves helping at her grandmother's Super Boba Café. But she can't help but notice that her grandmother is acting strange and secretive. She refuses to let Aria into the kitchen at all and she disappears at the same time each night without telling Aria where she goes. Meanwhile, Aria is eager to drum up more business for Super Boba Café. She gets a major windfall when the shop cat, Bao, surprises them by having kittens, and Aria realizes this is a major social media opportunity. She knows this will help Nainai's shop, but she is apprehensive to get back on social media after a terrible cyberbullying experience she had back home. As the shop starts to get busier, Nainai is more and more anxious about her secret project. This prompts Aria to investigate with help from her Nainai's neighb...

Plain Kate

Plain Kate by Erin Bow Scholastic, 2010. 314 pgs. Fiction Katerina Svetlana is named after her mother, who died giving birth. Her father, Piotr the woodcarver, calls her plain Kate and she is soon known as Plain Kate, after the butcher's witticism, because she is "plain as a stick." But her father calls her Kate, my star. Piotr teaches his daughter to carve and she is on her way to becoming a master when her father dies of a strange sleeping sickness that plagues her town and the country round about. In a magical land, Kate has no magic but her skill. Still, she is so good her neighbors think her a witch and drive her away, but not before a real witch comes along and she trades him her shadow for the promise that she won't have to travel alone. He gives her a talking cat. Kate falls in with gypsies who also find reason to hurt and abandon her and she is rescued by the witch who takes her upriver in a terrible quest to avenge his dead sister and bring her back from...

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