Look! There Are No Dinos Inside Of This Book

Vee offers an offbeat children’s picture book about a dinosaur wrangler.

This rhyming book, which features fun, detailed full-color illustrations by Wilson, begins with a bespectacled man introducing himself: “I’m Dangerous Dave, and you know I’m no angler,” he says. “Around here I’m known as a dinosaur wrangler.” He assures readers that there are no dinosaurs in the book, but in fact there are several: Clues include teeth marks on pages and loud roaring sounds, and the creatures themselves frolic just outside Dave’s line of sight. In the end, the dinosaurs win out, wrangling the wrangler out of the story and telling young readers that “not one dino-wrangler is left in this book!” It’s difficult to determine the target audience for Vee’s book. On the one hand, readers are asked to point out teeth and other parts of the dinosaur body, which will appeal to very young readers, but the book’s main conceit—the wrangler denying the existence of dinosaurs when it’s clear they exist—may be a tad confusing to that same age group. However, they’ll delight in Wilson’s charming illustrations, which enliven the text. Dave himself, with his bushy red mustache, shows real personality, as do the dinosaurs and other animals he encounters and discusses, including a skunk and a rat.

Delightful illustrations add life to a slightly uneven story.