Never ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees
| Never ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Exciting and funny rhyming tale that's full of ridiculous cautions - great to share with toddlers! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: February 2014 |
| Publisher: Alison Green Books | |
| ISBN: 9781407136936 | |
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I don't expect you've ever thought about asking a dinosaur to dinner. In case it ever crosses your mind to do so, this helpful book informs you of the probable consequences of such a rash action. It will also prove helpful should you be thinking about using a tiger as a towel or, heaven forbid, if you wondered if it would be okay to share your toothbrush with a shark!
I do like silly stories like this one, especially when the silliness is backed up by funny illustrations. Dear old dino who pops round for his tea sits at the table wearing a 'catch-it-all' bib immediately made me laugh! As did his ridiculously small arms (however did T-Rex's do anything?) and the mess of half eaten food strewn around the kitchen. Mr Shark is also not a disappointment, especially his ferocious-looking teeth as he perhaps forgets to say a polite thank you for sharing the boy's toothbrush and instead tries to bite his head off!
The nonsense continues with bison as blankets and a barn owl sharing a bed (not a good idea...he'll keep you up all night!) I suppose that you're wondering what good advice the story leads up to? Well, simply the idea that perhaps one teddy is more than enough to be doing with at night. Personally I think my daughter should read this story every day, just for this nugget of advice, since she currently sleeps with about four hundred stuffed animals, or thereabouts, and changing her sheets is a regular nightmare chore!
I would have given this a higher rating but for two small issues - the first is the presence of American animals. I know, I know, it's a ridiculous thing, but I somehow find it glaringly obvious when a couple of words show that it's an American book, and here the presence of the beaver and the bison just irritate me somewhat. Yes, it is ridiculous since the first creature dealt with in the book is a dinosaur - I'm aware of that! Still, I'd rather have had an otter and a cow...My other small issue was with the rhyme scheme which took me a while to pick up when I was reading it aloud. It's fine once you've figured it out, but if you're thinking of reading it to lots of squirmy toddlers just have a look over it all first and try it out in your head so you don't end up with entirely the wrong rhythm and your story time falls flat!
Anyway, small personal irritations aside this is a great book, lots of fun, and doubtless will be requested again and again!
For more silliness by the same author I'd definitely recommend The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards and Hannah Shaw
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You can read more book reviews or buy Never ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Never ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees at Amazon.com.
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Gareth Edwards said:
Hi
Thank you Ruth for the lovely review! Very kind.
I did want to say - it's not an American book (Guy and I both live in England) and beavers and bison aren't just American animals. Both live in Europe too and beavers have even recently returned to Scotland!
Thanks again for enjoying the book, and for the Disgusting Sandwich mention.
Gareth
