One of the things I loved about the books was the combination of true facts and brightly coloured, fun illustrations. They are perfect for 3-4 year olds who have an insatiable thirst for knowledge but also want to be engaged and entertained.
Jeanette Rowe has clearly given careful thought to her audience. The books are light-hearted, funny and factual, and I really loved the way she used comparisons that small kids could understand such a Tyrannosaurus teeth being the size of bananas, 'very sharp bananas'.
The books use proper terms such as carnivore but in a context that makes their meaning clear to a preschooler. There is also lots of word repetition which I liked.
We read Rex the Tyrannosaurus, Tip the Triceratops and Tracey the Pterodactyl and they were all great. I did think that Rex and Tip were better ... possibly because Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus are just cooler than a Pterodactyl (sorry Tracey!).
One of my favourite aspects of the series is the activities, page of jokes and page of questions at the back of each book. I don't normally like that kind of thing because they are often a bit tacky but these ones were well done and provided a great way to discuss the book with Wild Man. It was also hilarious to watch him struggle to understand and then laugh at the jokes.
The fact that this is a series will really appeal to kids love of collecting. Wild Man spent ages looking at the pictures of the other books which are included on the back cover.
Who'll love them: Dinosaur fans aged 3 and 4. They would also appeal to little boys who aren't into story books.
Cost: $12.99 each
Published by Allen & Unwin
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