TYRANNOCLAUS
by Janet Lawler and illustrated by John Shroades
Tyrannoclaus is the Santa of the dinosaur world, and he’s having a bad Christmas Eve. First one of the dinosaurs eats the gift list, and then the volcano under the North Pole erupts, causing Tyrannoclaus and his sleigh full of toys to fall into a crevice. Several flying dinosaur assistants save the day in a dramatic rescue through fire and ash, and the presents are delivered in time to all the good dinosaur children around the world. Shroade’s large-format design uses mainly double-page spreads, with a palette of dazzling, hot colors that make the dinosaurs appear to pop off the pages. The spreads of the volcano are exciting, but not too scary. Young dino devotees will enjoy the rhyming text and the dramatic combination of Christmas, dinosaurs and steaming hot lava. (Picture book. 3-7)