Revenge of the Dinotrux

PreS-Gr 1—The monster vehicles, cleverly imagined ancestors of modern trucks and construction vehicles from Gall's Dinotrux (Little, Brown, 2009), return for another romp. The first installment left off with them being placed "into a great museum." Now, having been poked, prodded, and otherwise abused by the museum's young visitors, they have grown resentful. After another rough Kindergarten Day, Tyrannosaurus Trux loses his temper and breaks out, leading the Dinotrux to wreak havoc throughout the city. To quell further rampages and civilize the prehistoric machines, the mayor orders the miscreants to attend school. Despite some additional shenanigans, the Dinotrux are eventually tamed through the power of literacy. They discover "some books they just couldn't put down" and learn to get along with children in the mildly contrived but altogether satisfactory turn of events. Dramatic, full-page illustrations brim with the energy of these fierce machines. Humorous details abound as well—some subtle, like a display case labeled "immature male" with a small Dinotrux inside, and some more obvious, like the Cementosaurus leaving "a present in the town square." A fun follow-up, appealing to old and new fans alike.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY