Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
How do Dinosaurs Go to School?
Illustrator: Mark Teague
Picture Book Series
For ages 2 to 5
Scholastic, 2007 ISBN: 978-0439020817
When a dinosaur goes to school what kind of a dinosaur is he? Is he the kind of dinosaur who is late for the school bus? Is he, oh horrors, the kind of dinosaur who takes another child's lunch? I'd hate to think that he is the kind of dinosaur who makes it impossible to think in the classroom because he is making too much noise. And please, don't tell me he is the kind of fellow who teases the girls and picks on the boys in the playground.
No, I'd like to think that he is the kind of dinosaur who helps out when there are class projects to be done. He is the kind of person who plays nicely with others and who "growls at bullies" just as he should. He is, in short, just the kind of little dinosaur whom everyone likes to have around.
In this funny and beautifully illustrated picture book Jane Yolen uses her delightful verse to gently remind her young readers how we should all behave when we go to school. By injecting plenty of humor into her words and with Mark Teague's splendid dinosaurs to set the scene, Yolen manages to make her suggestions light hearted and loving. Grownups everywhere must surely be delighted to have these wonderful dinosaurs on their side to help them teach their little dino lovers how things should be done.
