Showing posts with label Dinosaurs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dinosaurs. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Today's post is part of my ongoing collaboration with dance educator Maria Hanley from Maria's Movers. Each month I recommend a book for Maria to use in her creative movement classes, and then we both share out experiences with the book. This month we're exploring Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp! by Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe.


Look at the Tyrannosaurus on that cover! A little scary, don't you think? But don't worry...once you open the book, he's not that scary anymore. In fact, he's pretty harmless, even in the presence of other dinosaurs. Mostly, this Tyrannosaurus just wants to stomp!

Mighty Tyrranosaurus
loved stomp, stomp, stomping, 
gigantic legs striding, enormous jaws opening, 
jagged teeth waiting for guzzle, guzzling!
So stomp, Tyrannosaurus, stomp!

As the book continues, we meet an immense Diplodocus, a crested Pteranodon, a fierce Velociraptor, and seven other prehistoric creatures. Like the Tyrranosaurus, each of the creatures has a signature move -- the Diplodocus a swish, the Pteranodon a glide, the Velociraptor a hunt -- plus additional moves that would hopefully inspire young children to come up with some moves of their own.

Although the Tyrranosaurus is mostly absent when we meet these other creatures, he does appear on the page devoted to a tough Ankylosaurus. The signature move of the Ankylosaurus is a whack, and poor Tyrannosaurus is the recipient of one of those whacks! He doesn't look like he minds, though, and this action adds a splash of humor to the already upbeat book. We then see the Tyrannosaurus one more time -- at the end of the book -- when, still stomping, he leads the whole pack of creatures in a dinosaur parade.

Girls and boys -- especially those who love to move -- will appreciate the many movement words in the text. I bet they'll also enjoy the bright illustrations, which take up every corner of every page and, in doing so, exaggerate the exuberance that the text already portrays. Let's see if Maria agrees! You can check out her post here.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Make Room for Brontorina!

I received my first-ever review copy of a picture book today, and I am thrilled. I'm thrilled that a publisher (Candlewick Press in this case) was happy to send me a copy, and I'm thrilled that I enjoyed the book so much.

Brontorina, by James Howe (author) and Randy Cecil (illustrator), is the story of a dinosaur with an unlikely dream. But with good friends and a dedicated dance teacher by her side, Brontorina's dream becomes a reality. The biggest challenge along the way (besides finding some shoes that fit her!) is finding a space big enough for Brontorina to dance in.

In a note that came with my review copy, James Howe says that Randy Cecil's "palette, style, and sly sense of humor are a perfect match for my words, and--as happens with the best illustrators--he has created visually a world I could only see as a sort of half-formed dream as I wrote." I couldn't agree more that the text and illustrations of this book blend so well together that it is hard to tell which ideas were the author's and which were the illustrator's.

My review of Brontorina may be slightly biased since I am still overexcited that I received a copy for free, but when I read it to my unbiased three-year-old earlier tonight, she cried so much every time I tried to put the book away that I had to read it three times before she would settle down. She has always liked books, but this was not normal behavior for her. I think she just really really liked this book, too!

Brontorina may be big, but she eventually finds a space with enough room for dancing. I'm sure a lot of people will find room for Brontorina on their bookshelves, too. 

Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery was James Howe's very first book, published in 1979. I still have my own copy--yellowing pages and all--from when I was growing up. A 25th anniversary collection of the first three books in the Bunnicula series came out a few years ago. What a pleasant surprise to find out that the same James Howe who wrote one of my favorite childhood series is still writing books--and ones about dancing dinosaurs to boot!
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