More than anything else in the
Whole wide world, I wanna be a
great
BIG
DINOSAUR!
A small, very active and noisy boy wants to be a dinosaur. Fortunately, a dinosaur overhears him and helps teach him the things that he must do to be a Great Big Dinosaur. He teaches the boy how to roar, stomp and eat. In turn, the boy teaches the dinosaur what it is to be a little boy. Illustrations are loud and enthusiastic and full of energy. Text types also show that this is not a quiet book. Endpapers offer more traditional dinosaurs, with the endpapers suggesting some behaviour adaptations once dinosaurs have communed with little boys!
Many young children, particularly boys, go through a dinosaur-obsessed period. I Wanna be a Great Big Dinosaur!captures just how loud and wild and exuberant this can be. But it also reminds young dinosaur-wannabes in a very gentle way that there are things that are very enviable about being a little boy. Mostly though this is just a joyous romp through childhood. Sure to become a favourite of pre-schoolers everywhere.
I Wanna be a Great Big Dinosaur!, Heath McKenzie
Scholastic 2015
ISBN: 9781743626009
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller