How to Care for Your T-Rex

January 15, 2019
"When you take good care of your T-Rex, your T-Rex will take good care of you."Elaborating on a notion that has been popular since Bernard Most's If the Dinosaurs Came Back (1978), Baker offers general guidance on how to keep a dino-pet (or many other sorts) fed, clean, and well-behaved. He mixes this with observations on how a huge, toothy theropod can be an awesome teammate in various sports and drools enough to create a terrific water slide, but it is definitely a messy eater (Coverly displays a fine gift for depicting goo and slop in showing what it does to a stack of pancakes and sausage pizzas) and, considering those short arms, maybe not so good at getting a kite out of a tree. In loosely drawn cartoon scenes the illustrator tucks an inconspicuously diverse cast of small human figures--the children excited, the grown-ups mildly dismayed--around a humongous green Tyrannosaurus rex that happily trashes a suburban neighborhood before it's time to brush, floss, climb into dino-jammies, hear a bedtime story, and snuggle down into bed to a sweet lullaby from its blond, light-skinned young caretaker. Dino-dumps aren't the only topic left unaddressed, as this lively riff on a popular trope focuses more on the pleasures of having an outsized pet than its challenges.A playful if incomplete twist on an ever popular theme. (additional facts) (Picture book. 5-8)

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May 13, 2019
In this humorous how-to guide, Baker (Old MacDonald Had a Dragon) takes readers through a day of caring for one enormous pet. T. rex facts supplement each care step, from walking briskly in the morning (“a T-Rex can cover fifteen feet in a single step”) to playing sports (its “twenty-foot-long tail” makes a keen ball-propeller) and brushing and flossing its “nine-inch teeth.” Throughout, the narrator offers gentle cautions, as when a boy tries to teach his seven-ton pet to roll over and ends up with a T-wrecked fence. Ink-and-watercolor illustrations by Coverly (Night of the Living Shadows) playfully depict excited kids and their less-than-thrilled adult counterparts alongside the adorably enormous dinosaur, and text in speech bubbles (“No eating off the floor!” “No eating THE floor!”) adds to the comic effect. Most important of all, the narrator reminds readers, “Even when mistakes are made, always treat your T-Rex with kindness.” A list of additional T. rex facts concludes. Ages 4–8.

January 24, 2020

K-Gr 2-The author uses the responsibility of pet care to deliver fun dino facts ("A T-Rex can cover fifteen feet in a single step") in this super silly story. Brushing and flossing nine-inch teeth is particularly challenging; a boy teaches him not to eat the floor, and when the dinosaur rolls over, the fence breaks. A foldout spread shows children using their 20-foot-tall dinosaur for a water slide. Readers learn a T-Rex's top speed and how the size of his tail and arms can have their pros and cons. Watercolor cartoon illustrations follow the two friends from sunrise to sunset; back material includes a bedtime song and two pages of additional dinosaur facts. VERDICT Useful for those with pets or those who love funny dinosaur stories.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.

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