Reviews for How do dinosaurs go to school?
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
This eighth entry (counting the two board books) in the Yolen/Teague How Do Dinosaurs series features a cast of 10 brightly colored dinosaurs that manage to dominate the double-page spreads without overwhelming them. Questions arise when the dinos are put in common school-day situations. Would dinosaurs walk to school or carpool? Would they stomp and make a fuss on the bus? Would they roughhouse and punch and disrupt the class by yelling or fidgeting with their tails in the air? Of course not. Before they leap out the door at the end of the school day, readers will realize that these dinosaurs are helpful, tidy, and protective, "growling at the bullies till the bullying ends." Yolen's short, rhyming text and Teague's irresistible, cavorting dinosaurs perfectly convey how dinosaurs could behave in school, large and powerful though they may be. Fans of the other titles in the series will welcome this new lesson on how to behave properly yet manage to remain a true dinosaur. --Randall Enos Copyright 2007 Booklist
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Off to school with our prehistoric pals from the popular How Do Dinosaurs . . .? series, in which familiar scenes are made riotous by the scale-skewing enormity of elementary school–student dinos. As silvasaurus rushes out the door, his human mom proffers a teeny-tiny (but life-sized to Homo sapiens) brown-bag lunch and thermos. Centrosaurus can't fit in the carpool vehicle (license plate DINOCAR), so he rides on the roof. And when Herrerasaurus loses his tooth in class, he can't help but let out a celebratory yell, and all his similarly gap-toothed schoolmates share his excitement. Once again, what readers can't see in Teague's positively pop-off-the-page paintings (tails and toes that are just too long to fit, for example) is just as important as what they can. Perfect partners for Yolen's easy rhymes, they extend the text with those oh-so-appreciated labels, plenty of wit and a well-placed wink or two. The standard-sized schoolyard and show-and-tell provide plenty of opportunities for giant lizards to be acrobatic, misbehave and generally cause a ruckus, but each of these dinosaurs earns top marks and works well with others. (Picture book. 2-7) Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.
School Library Journal
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PreS-Gr 3-This animated version of Jane Yolen's book (Blue Sky Press, 2007) is a perfect way to start the school year. Viewers, especially dinophiles, will delight as the remiss school children turn into lumbering dinosaurs, committing all sorts of infractions during the school day. Being late for the school bus, roughhousing in the schoolyard, running in the halls, disrupting class, calling out of turn, pushing, and teasing are among the misbehaviors featured in this humorously didactic story. Yolen's rhyming text and Mark Teague's irresistible brightly-colored dinosaurs are accompanied with lively music; sound effects that include grunts, groans, and gasps; and a screen that shakes violently up and down when little dinosaurs run or jump. Narrated by the author, the rhyming questions are finally answered with a firm, "No.A dinosaur carefully raises his hand. He helps out his classmates with projects they've planned," and other admirable actions. The spread, "At recess he plays with a number of friends, and growls at the bullies till bullying ends," comes alive on the screen as a flying reptile catches a ball midair and then swoops over to snatch a startled bully and return him to the classroom. During the credits, good little dinosaurs raise their hands, work on their writing, water the plants, and play nicely at school. An added bonus is an interview with the author, who explains how she came to write the dinosaur series and communicates her love of reading and writing. Clips from the other dinosaur videos and childhood photos are interspersed. Students can write their own classroom rules after viewing.-Barbara Auerbach, P.S. 217, Brooklyn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly
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The latest from Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? initially has a band of dinos attracting many a stern stare from teachers. A centrosaurus interrupts show-and-tell to brandish his stuffed monkey and a monolophosaurus "roar[s] out of turn," but soon the creatures-and young readers-understand proper behavior before, during and after school. (Scholastic/Blue Sky, $16.99 40p ages 3-5 ISBN 9780-439-02081-7; July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
PreS-Gr 2-A new cast of brightly colored dinosaurs appears in this charming back-to-school story. The text's easy rhyme and rhythm will be familiar to those who have read other books in this series, and Teague's charismatic and naughty dinosaurs will continue to delight readers with their antics and exuberance. The illustration accompanying "DOES A DINOSAUR YELL?" is sure to elicit smiles as an excited Herrerasaurus leaps out of his chair proudly holding up a newly lost tooth. His teacher looks annoyed, but his classmates all turn toward him with their own gap-toothed grins. The 10 dinosaurs that appear are identified on the endpapers where each is hard at work or play. Stygimoloch using one arm to prop up his raised hand as he blurts out is also likely to draw a smile from veteran teachers. A fun read-aloud for the first day of school.-Neala Arnold, St. Francis Elementary School, MN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
