The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman

A very, very tiny dinosaur is born to a family of big ones, and despite lots of motherly love and good hearted attempts from his siblings to get him involved in their rough and tumble games, he can't help but be sad because, well, he's just so tiny and keeps drowning in puddles and being accidentally trodden on. He takes to sitting lonely on a hill, and one day he sees another dinosaur, on another lonely hill, very far away. But this one is simply huge! Surely he can't have any reasons to feel sad and lonely? Things change when it's up to the littlest one to rescue his whole family.

Michael Foreman's latest book has a clear moral message, told in a charming way without sliding straight into soppy sentimentality.

The text is simple but tells the story in a manner that would be understood by the younger children, but has enough happening (and some emotional depth) to engage the older ones. My 7 year old grabbed it straight from the envelope, read quickly and returned with a thoughtful smile:

You can learn something from this book, mummy!

And what is it, Katie?

That no matter what size you are, you can do something very good.

The illustrations are wonderful: washed out watercolours, not overburdened with details, subtle but arresting, and the tiny dinosaur on his hill borders on .... haunting, really, despite still being the ridiculous type of creature that lizards with human-like faces normally are. The emotions are expressed really well on all creatures' (dinosaurs' to the last one) faces and the sketchy Jurassic landscape in the background looks quite convincing.

There are many stories about celebrating diversity and overcoming self-doubt caused by being different, and doing something good no matter what size you are. This is a worthy addition to them and comes recommended for all 3 to 7 year olds, and especially, of course, ones that love dinosaurs.

Thanks to Bloomsbury for sending us the book.

If you like this, you'll also enjoy Julia Donaldson's dinosaur story with a very, very similar message (and more bite) and Michael Foreman's beautiful illustrations grace one of Bookbag's all-time favourites.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

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