FICTION

I'm a Dirty Dinosaur

by Janeen BRIAN
illus. by Ann James. 22p. Kane Miller. Sept. 2014. Tr $11.99. ISBN 9781610672962. LC 2013949620.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 2—In a book that has mud as one of the creative mediums, it's a given that the dinosaur is dirty. The prehistoric protagonist is drawn with magic pencil (which creates a thin rainbow-hued line) and minimal detail. Slowly, through onomatopoetic, brightly colored, rhyming text, he begins to color himself in with mud. "I'm a dirty dinosaur with a dirty tum./I splatter it with mud and I tap it like a drum./Tap, Tap,/Tap, Tap,/Tap it like a drum!" The watercolor scenery adds to the cute factor of the story, which spreads across extra thick white pages. Eventually, a swamp affords the dino the perfect place for a wash. This book will entertain kids in storytime as well as young independent readers. A solid general purchase for most libraries.—Nancy Jo Lambert, McSpedden Elementary Frisco, TX
"I'm a dirty dinosaur / with a dirty snout, / I never wipe it clean / I just sniff and snuff about." In rhyming couplets alternating with repetitive refrains, a cheeky little dino plays in the dirt, becoming grubby from snout to tail before cleaning up at last. It's easy to imagine preschoolers chanting along and enjoying James's art, which combines mud with jaunty line drawings.
Reviewed by Nancy Jo Lambert , Sep 01, 2014

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