Dino Pets Go to School

K-Gr 2—The boy at the center of this charming story just can't seem to hit on the right creature to take to "Pet Day." Luckily he has several to choose from. He brings the tallest, widest, smartest, loudest, spikiest dinosaurs of the lot and each one disrupts the school day in amusing ways. Cheery rhyme schemes resonate throughout: "I brought a dino/for a pet,/the LOUDEST dino/I could get./After I made the introduction,/our whole classroom/needed reconstruction." Exuberant illustrations bring a sense of whimsy to the story. The facial expressions are both comical and endearing. Children will love the dino baseball game at the conclusion. A spread of "Dino Facts" is appended. With its broad appeal, this silly selection is a great choice for budding paleontologists. Pair it with Elise Broach's When Dinosaurs Came with Everything (S & S) and Jane Yolen's How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? (Scholastic, both 2007) to satisfy that age-old question: What if the dinosaurs were alive today?—Jasmine L. Precopio, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh, PA