Dinosaur Kisses

Newly hatched Dinah the dinosaur decides to give kissing a try. She doesn't know her own strength, though, and her puppyish attempts at affection miss their marks. Dinah finally meets her match when one of her nest-mates hatches. Stein's engaging illustrations work hand in hand with his simple, energetic text. Friendly Dinah takes center stage.

Dinah the dinosaur bursts out of her egg, eager to experience her (prehistoric) world. After some exploratory stomping and chomping, she sees two little fluffy animals puckering up for a kiss and decides to give it try. Dinah doesn't know her own strength, though, and her puppyish attempts at affection miss their marks -- in a big way. Her first victim recipient, a small aquatic-ish creature, gets head-butted instead of kissed. Next, she chomps down on the hindquarters of an unappreciative big dinosaur. The third time is not the charm: Dinah flattens a two-legged fish, possibly setting evolution back a few millennia ("Whoops"). Stein's engaging illustrations work hand in hand with his simple, energetic text. The bare, but not barren, landscape features pink and yellow skies and a lush green foreground dotted with occasional plants and a few primordial pools of water. Friendly Dinah takes center stage; her silly antics never look threatening. She finally meets her match when one of her nest-mates hatches, and the two "kiss" -- a.k.a. chomp and stomp and whomp -- to their hearts' content. humor at its finest. kitty flynn