The young dinosaur heroes of Gigantosaurus could hardly be cuter. They look like characters right out of an animated feature film―which is no surprise, as creator Jonny Duddle was a concept artist for the Hugh Grant film The Pirates! Band of Misfits. (He’s also the creator of books such as The Pirates Next Door.)
Preschoolers will love Duddle’s latest, an energetic boy-who-cried-wolf tale from many million years ago, in which a young dinosaur named Bonehead keeps shouting to his friends that the dreaded, deadly Gigantosaurus that their parents have warned them about is rapidly approaching.
Bonehead’s pals Tiny, Fin and Bill fall for these faux warnings every time, until finally they tire of the trickery, abandoning Bonehead to play by themselves. Of course, you can guess who shows up next, and you can also guess who never learns his lesson.
Duddle’s digital artwork is stellar. The artist has created a lush and humorous Cretaceous world full of giant ferns, volcanoes, lava flows, dinosaur bones and massive termite nests. Kids will love the big fold-up page showing the dreaded Gigantosaurus in his full glory, but not to worry—nothing is overly scary. There’s also a helpful spread at the end explaining the different types of dinosaurs featured in the story.
Gigantosaurus is sure to be a readaloud favorite, with its adorable dinosaur characters and its lively refrain, “His feet go STOMP! His jaws go CRUNCH! In the blink of an eye you’ll be his LUNCH!”
