Children’s Book Review: If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur
If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur
by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Colin Jack
If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur is a tongue-in-cheek user’s guide to prehistoric pets. Award-winning author, Linda Bailey, explains how the big guys can be very helpful around the house. A dinosaur can do triple duty as a can opener, potato masher, and burglar alarm. If you own a dino, you’ll never need an umbrella, snow plow or diving board ever again. A plethora of practical uses are matter-of-factly itemized, as well as some caveats for owners – including a warning about leaving dinosaurs (and their extra-large appetites) alone with picnic baskets.
Colin Jack’s quirky illustrations have a retro-inspired design and are as cheery and bright as a Saturday morning cartoon. A mop-haired child speedily completes his newspaper route astride an obliging stegosaurus and also uses a sharp toothed (and burping) spinosaurus as an excuse for forgotten homework. The pages are packed with funny details that adults will enjoy as well, such as the father reading Jurassic Park and the teacher’s motivational “Hang in There” poster featuring a dino dangling from a tree limb.
Readers are not to despair if they don’t have a dinosaur of their own lying around. The open ending invites lots of animated and imaginative discussions about what to do with other odd and unusual pets like a dodo, a porcupine, or a sasquatch. This wacky, zany tale is a storytime crowd pleaser.
Linda Ludke is a librarian at London Public Library. Her reviews have appeared in Quill and Quire, School Library Journal and CM: Canadian Review of Materials. When she’s not reading and writing she also loves searching for vintage treasures.
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