Do you love dinosaurs? by Matt Robertson

The bright and colourful cover design of this new dinosaur book may trick the reader into thinking it is a fiction picture book however there is surprise in store. This book is full of facts about all different types of dinosaur related material and presented in a humorous and visually appealing manner. The end papers have vibrant cartoon-type drawings of all kinds of creatures from the time of dinosaurs. The book begins with a do you love dinosaurs section then warns the reader that before they turn the page there are ten fun dinosaur rules to be obeyed including “if you want to be in the veggie dino gang, then eat your greens!” Each double page spread focuses on one particular category of dinosaur: fearsome hunters, gentle giants, leaf loving veggies, armoured dinosaurs, the raptors, dino fossils, babysaurus and of course Tyrannosaurus Rex, who has his very own spread turned sideways to fit him in. At the end there is a dino sports day which measures how fast the more common dinosaurs are as well as dino neighbours which talks about other creatures who lived at that time. There is also a dino hall of fame which shows a picture and then fast facts about the chosen dinosaur. Each page has information presented in different fonts spread out in segments amongst the lively illustrations and humorous speech bubbles.

This will be a popular read for children in a school or public library as well as a shared read at home for younger children.

Themes: Dinosaurs, Information, Humour.

Kathryn Beilby