A very dinosaur birthday by Adam Wallace. Illus. by Christopher Nielsen

A verse story about a dinosaur will always be a hit. But add in the attributes that this dinosaur brings to a party will have the listening audience laughing out loud. Through the book readers will get an idea of what happens at a birthday party. The opening page tells us that a dinosaur should never be invited to a birthday party because he is too farty. Over the page more reasons are given: they bring old presents that are mouldy, or broken or stinky. When it comes to the games, they cause mayhem as well.  Hiding a dinosaur in hide and seek is problematic, pass the parcel causes concern, and pin the tail on the donkey could mean a wall falling down. The pool sounds cool but not when the dinosaur jumps in, offering food means none is left for the kids, blowing out the candles sees everyone covered with icing, while going up to bed at the end of such an upsetting day causes more surprises as the dinosaurs have opened all the presents, messily. 

Rollicking rhymes showcase a very funny tale of how various dinosaurs can upset a party, and accompanied by the bright, zany illustrations will be read and reread by younger kids. Laugh out loud while being read aloud, kids will love looking at the different types of dinosaurs and how their names are intertwined with the rhyming structure. They will love predicting the rhyming word and learn some of the lines for themselves, particularly the ones involving bums and farts.

The endpapers contain images of various dinosaurs with their names, while at the end of the book are activities that readers could be involved with at a dinosaur birthday party.

Themes: Dinosaurs, Birthday party, Cake, Games.

Fran Knight