A fun, heartfelt story you’ll really love.
Miyanishi’s Tyrannosaurus discovers real love is communicated through actions rather than words.
It’s winter, and the Tyrannosaurus shivers with cold and aches with hunger. Unfurling its wings, a Tapejara offers to lead the Tyrannosaurus to a green forest beyond the mountains with plenty of food. During the arduous journey, the Tyrannosaurs falls, and the flying reptile encourages him on. But when the Tyrannosaurs looks dead, the tricky Tapejara reveals its scheme and tries to eat him. Flinging the Tapejara away, the Tyrannosaurs stumbles into the forest and meets three small Homalocephales who speak a different language (represented as English words written backward). When the mighty sauropod collapses again, they come to his rescue and bring him food until he is well. The Tyrannosaurus and the three Homalocephales form a parent-child–like relationship. He even tries to teach them his language, which leads to a terrible misunderstanding with another dinosaur. Miyanishi’s trademark bold lines and colors capture the sounds, landscape, and emotions that the Tyrannosaurus experiences in this sixth book of the Japanese series. Addressing contemporary issues of sacrifice, friendship, and vulnerability through these prehistoric creatures, the book teaches readers that love can overcome barriers and differences. The humanness of the dinosaurs illuminates the power and strength the “language of the heart” can have.
A fun, heartfelt story you’ll really love. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-940842-26-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Museyon
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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