View source for Hocus Pocus Diplodocus by Steve Howson and Kate Daubney

{{infobox2
|title=Hocus Pocus Diplodocus
|author=Steve Howson and Kate Daubney
|reviewer=Zoe Morris
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1848861121
|pages=32
|publisher=Maverick Arts Publishing
|date=May 2014
|aznuk=1848861125
|aznus=1848861125
|cover=1848861125
|website=
|video=
|summary=Roll up, roll up, the world's first magician is ready to entertain you! Funny, clever and highly entertaining.
}}
Magic is a lot of fun, but did you ever think about how it started? Pre-David Blaine? Pre-Dynamo? Pre-Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee? You need to look much further back than the 80s to find the answer, you know, because the first magician was in the days of the dinosaurs. Meet Hocus Pocus Diplodocus.

This is a lovely, simple, entertaining story that will have little ones giggling from the start. There are lots of little comments that make the story a little bit ’naughty’ (though it’s all entirely age appropriate) and funny things happen, like the baddy’s teeth falling out, which are easy to understand and repeated in both the words and the lovely illustrations. Throw in some words like ''burp'' and ''dribble'' and ''pimplebottom'' and the whole story seems delightfully rude (to a pre-schooler’s eyes).

This is a straightforward picture book that works perfectly. The text is clear, well spaced and simple. The pictures are bright and all the animals friendly and pulling silly faces. Plus it explains how dinosaurs left the Earth (note how I didn’t put ''died out''). The science may be dodgy but it’s no worse than any of those tales that are thinly veiled bible stories.

This is sure to be a popular book. Hocus is adorable and a worthy leader for a story in which quite a bit happens. There are mishaps but there’s success too, and most of all, like any good magician, he doesn’t reveal any of his secrets!

Thanks go to the publishers for supplying this book. 

There's more dino fun to be had in [[The Littlest Dinosaur's Big Adventure by Michael Foreman]] and [[The Dirty Great Dinosaur by Martin Waddell and Leonie Lord]]

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[[Category:Steve Howson]]
[[Category:Kate Daubney]]