Dinosaurs Don't, Dinosaurs Do

November 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 1-These books deftly combine text and art to create a positive experience for new readers. They are larger than typical easy readers, leaving plenty of room for uncluttered, colorful cartoon illustrations and clear, large fonts. The sequencing of events in the uncomplicated plots leads to satisfying conclusions. In the first book, Bjorkman uses repetitive text and playful pictures to introduce appropriate behavior. "Dinosaurs don't run here" is demonstrated by a dismayed dinosaur in front of glassware falling from a china cabinet; opposite, "Dinosaurs do run here" shows two smiling creatures running through a playground. McPhail introduces the concept of up and down in the second title. "Boy saw Bird. Bird was up. Boy went up." When Dog wants to join them in the tree house but can't climb up, the boy comes down and solves the problem by hauling the pup up in a pail. And in Meisel's fun See Me Run, a game of follow the leader gets a pack of dogs running through mud and water and then stopping to dig up a big skeletal surprise. The lines "I run and run./See them come./They come and come./Will they get me?/No, no, no!/We go and go" are accompanied by playful pups of every variety shown running through a park. These titles have similar-sounding vowels and consonants, popular sight words, and short, simple sentences with clear punctuation, making them successful entries in the beginning-reader canon.-Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2011

Straightforward behavior modeling for newly fledged independent readers.

Illustrating his points with pairs of bright, informally drawn and colored cartoons featuring recognizable dinos in modern playgrounds and other familiar settings, Björkman contrasts bad manners with better ones. "Dinosaurs don't eat like this. Dinosaurs eat like this." (A marmalade T. Rex tosses syrupy pancakes into his mouth, spattering goo everywhere, while at the other end of the table, a hadrosaur politely offers the syrup to a pterodactyl; both have bite-sized pieces of pancake poised on forks.) "Dinosaurs don't hit or bite. When they are mad, dinosaurs use words." (That troublesome T. Rex pounds a purple, horned dinosaur, having already bitten off its tail; meanwhile, a green Dimetrodon mildly points out to an apologetic, brown Ankylosaurus that the latter broke his toy.) Summing up his message with a version of the Golden Rule ("Dinosaurs treat others as they want to be treated. That is why everyone loves dinosaurs!") and steering clear of any direct or indirect reference to the possibility of punishment, the author leaves it to readers to make their choices on a moral or ethical basis. Though unlikely on its own to spark any revolutionary changes in behavior, this approach does at least provide a starting point for reflection or discussion.

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