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Tuesday 24 March 2015

#365PictureBooks 69. Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle

Duddle, J. (2014). Gigantosaurus. Gosford, Australia: Scholastic.

ISBN: 9781742761015
Pages: 32 - including 1 'fold-up' page
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 5 stars

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His feet go STOMP!  
His jaws go CRUNCH!  
In the blink of an eye you'll be his LUNCH!  

Are you ready to meet the GIGANTOSAURUS? 

Bonehead, Tiny, Fin and Bill are four tiny and terribly cute dinosaurs who like spending their days playing.  Their mums warn them to beware of the Gigantosaurus, but like most children do they take any notice?  Why, of course not!  Well actually ... Bonehead does.  He keeps tricking his friends by calling out the Gigantosaurus is coming.  But what happens when the Gigantosaurus really does come???  


What a gorgeous gorgeous book.  It initially reminded me of the Puff the Magic Dragon story, but the further through I read it appeared to be a dinosaur retelling of Peter and the Wolf.  Bonehead is a bit of a liar, and he eventually cries 'wolf' ... woops I mean 'Gigantosaurus' once too often. 

Told in rhyme, this is a great book to share with your dinosaur-loving children.  Younger children will enjoy having this read to them, while the language used is more suitable for older children to read alone.


Duddle's illustrations are fan-fraking-amazing.  I love love love Bonehead.  Each of his images seem to just pop with his courage and self-confidence ... especially the page where their mothers are trying to tell them to be careful.  He's like 'Yeah Yeah, whatever!'  While his friends are quaking in their boots.  Did I mention that they are really really cute???  

The amount of detail in each illustration is fantastic.  They are bright, clear and show so much.  If you look carefully you can see hints of all sorts of dinosaur formations hiding in the images.  And you also get to meet the dinosaurs in the book at the end.  There are two pages of dino facts for kids to enjoy.

What a great addition to your collection, whether it's because you are a dinosaur fan, you like a good read-aloud, or purely for the amazing illustrations.

I got my copy of Gigantosaurus from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.


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