The Dinosaur Next Door

PreS-Gr 3–Litchfield builds an inviting new place for young readers with this tale. Liz notices that her neighbor Mr. Wilson, the local baker, looks remarkably like a dinosaur. She attempts to clue in the adults around her, but they don’t pay any attention. A paleontologist explains that dinosaurs have been extinct for 65 million years; ergo, her neighbor can’t possibly be a dinosaur. Liz decides to follow Mr. Wilson on his afternoon bike ride and discovers a world of dinosaurs but comes to understand that Mr. Wilson has made a choice to be a part of her world. The paleontologist has followed Liz and takes Mr. Wilson to be a part of a display. Liz is not the only one who is horrified, and Mr. Wilson is allowed to return to the bakery. The artwork is luminous, with a warm, welcoming palette. Readers who enjoyed Mo Willems’s Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct or Sid Hoff’s Danny and the Dinosaur will like this one, too.