I'M BIG!

In this fourth and weakest companion to the instant classic I Stink! (2002), a “super-sorry sauropod” sleeps through his herd’s departure and so—sounding just like the trucks and the T. Rex in previous iterations: “Wanna help me find my pack? / Awright, let’s get a move on”—sets off across the prehistoric landscape in pursuit. Big the lumbering narrator may be, but just how big? Different spreads tell differing tales—here he stretches his neck “five stories high” for an aerial look-see, but elsewhere he cowers behind a tree that towers over him, and in some scenes his legs are twice as long as in others. Moreover, the “stegos” he passes are the same size as the “diplos” in a later encounter, and the feathered alarm clock that wakes him at the beginning looks like an archaeopteryx on steroids. While the sound effects kids have come to expect are present, their placement within the narrative will make it difficult for the easy audience participation that has become a hallmark of the franchise. Add art composed of out-of-focus figures in dull purples and greens, and the total’s a roaring disappointment. (Picture book. 3-6)