Gigantosaurus

Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle (Koala Books)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 978-1-74276-101-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

When young dinosaurs go out to play they need to keep an eye out for danger, especially the hungry Gigantosaurus.

     His feet go STOMP!

      His jaws go CRUNCH!

      In the blink of an eye

     you'd be his lunch!

But what happens when the dinosaur on lookout, a mischievous Bonehead, decides to play a prehistoric version of the boy who cried wolf?

This is a noisy book in the best of ways. It has a rollicking rhythm, beautiful rhyme and is full of thuds, stomps, burps and other fabulously loud sounds. It exudes energy and humour and has the feel of The Three Little Pigs about it. From the first page it just begs to be read aloud.

When Bonehead calls out that the predator is on its way the young dinosaurs run to hide.

     They ran!

     They hid!

     They shook with fear!

     The Gigantosaurus was coming near!

And when, after many false sightings, Gigantosaurus really does appear, the page folds upwards to become double the height to accommodate the truly huge and awe inspiring meat eater.

Some of the dialogue is in speech bubbles (which still carry the wonderful rhythm and rhyme) and these bubbles become part of the playful illustrations. The picture on the front cover conveys the characters of the dinosaurs and hints at the role each one will play in the story. These characteristics remain consistent throughout the illustrations.

At the end of the book are two pages with pictures and factual explanations of the dinosaurs throughout the story. This is written in the same tone as the story and will keep dinosaur mad pre-schoolers who want to learn a little about these prehistoric animals happy.

This is such a fun book. It is fantastic to read and there is so much detail in the illustration to keep kids and their adult readers coming back again and again.