Sunday, 3 February 2019

Storybook Corner Book Review: Dinosaur Roar! & Ten Terrible Dinosaurs (Children's Picture Book)




This week I have two adorably ferocious storybooks that have stood the test of time and have recently been reissued to continue to delight children everywhere.

Dinosaur Roar!
by
Paul Strickland & Henrietta Strickland

Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publication date: 8th January 2019
Pages: 30
RRP: $14.99
Format Read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

About the Book :

A celebratory edition of this classic book, now twenty-five years old and never out of print. Produced from re-scanned original artwork, and endorsed by the National History Museum, this rollicking rhyming text is a joy to read aloud, and the charming images will appeal to the very youngest dinosaur fans.

Originally published in 1994, Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta and Paul Strickland is now seen as a modern classic, a book that every preschool child will love.

 My thoughts:

Dinosaur Roar! immediately catches the eye with its striking silver foil cover. It features a fiercely roaring T-Rex with a small dinosaur looking suitably unimpressed. Inside is a double spread with all sorts of dinosaurs to feast your eyes on; every shape, colour and size imaginable.

The wording is simple and kept to a minimum with large text that jumps off the page. The illustrations are vibrant and whimsical, with emphasis on each dinosaurs features and expressions bringing them to life on the page.

Both Dot and Ditto are enthusiastic dinosaur fans and are eager to have the book read over and over, each reading being an educational experience with the use of opposites in the text and a natural cadence in the rhyming of words. Dot quickly learnt what was to come next and enjoyed joining in.

I had to include Ditto’s favourite page. He is enthralled by this slimy dinosaur and keeps turning back to look at and touch this page over and over.



The Dinosaurs may be different in many ways but they all come together at the end.

At the back of the book is a gorgeous pull-out poster, featuring all the dinosaurs in their colourful glory, which can be framed and would delight any toddler.
This book is now ready to be discovered by a whole new generation.

Rated by Dot & Jay 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




                                Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
                                                by
                                       Paul Strickland


 



Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publication date: 8th January 2019 
Pages: 48
RRP: $14.99
Format Read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

About the book:

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs, a lively counting book first published in 1997 and now reissued, is based on the characters from Dinosaur Roar!, a picture book that is now recognised as a modern classic. The rhyming text encourages children to join in, helping them to learn their numbers as they count down from ten to one.


My thoughts:


Once again Paul Strickland’s dinosaurs have come out to delight young dinosaur fans with a rip roaring counting book. The front cover features our ten terrible dinosaurs, who are in fact happy, smiling dinosaurs and look like they are ready to have some fun.

Strickland uses the tried and true method of rhyming verse in this educational and fun counting book. Starting at ten with a large number 10 in digits at the start of the text, the ten terrible dinosaurs are standing in a line.
The watercolour illustrations are bright and whimsical, but as we know dinosaurs can be cheeky and they soon begin to mess around. It gets a bit rough and one poor dinosaur is scared so leaves. When the page is turned the number 9 is shown in digits first and then the text.

This book was another hit here. I really don’t think the children will ever tire of playing with, looking at and reading about dinosaurs.

I liked that the numbers were in digits and text side by side which gives a visual connection of the two.
Strickland’s use of alliteration and rhyming adds an extra element of fun to the reading and listening.
We had seven silly dinosaurs, five feisty dinosaurs and two tetchy dinosaurs. The book ends with a sneaky loud ROAR! Those dinosaurs really are tricky.

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs is a book that has been loved for the past two decades and is sure to be loved for decades to come.

Reissued in association with the Natural History Museum making these books true children’s classics.

Rated by Dot & Jay 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


 About the authors:

Paul Strickland is an illustrator, author and pop-up book engineer. Since leaving school he has had a long illustrious career with his drawings and illustrations, working on many different projects but he is best known for his work in children's books, most notably as the illustrator of the modern classic Dinosaur Roar! He lives in Dorset with his wife and young daughter.

Henrietta Strickland has been creating children's books for thirty years, both as an author and also as a publisher specializing in new writers and illustrators. She lives on the Somerset/Dorset border with her four sons and a menagerie of animals.


 

 



2 comments:

  1. Now I really feel old, 1994 was 25 years ago? lol. Both of these books look like great ones for the kids. Dinosaurs are always fascinating.

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    Replies
    1. Unlike us, children's books never become old and outdated. :)

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