JP Book Review: DINOSAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS
DINOSAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS
Written by: Claire Freedman
Illustrated by: Ben Cort
Publisher: Aladdin an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Ages 4 to 7
Irresistible!!
I’ve been around the block a couple of times when it comes to pitching things in Hollywood and while I can’t say I’m an expert, I know a thing or two about high concept ideas; especially ideas involving dinosaurs. I know the genre extremely well and I like to think I’ve seen just about everything.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw two boys with a copy of Claire Freedman’s book “DINOSAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS” for the first time. For those of us who have boys in the 4 to 7 age group or work with boys who are that age, there are two things that absolutely never lose their appeal: dinosaurs and references to underpants. Holy smoke! “DINOSAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS” managed to combine both of them in its title! I had to get my hands on a copy and read it for myself.
I am happy to report that this picture book totally lives up to its audacious premise. Told in rhyming verse, DLU tells the story of what happened when cave people first invented underpants and dinosaurs became obsessed with taking them for themselves:
“When T. rex saw Man’s undies,
He roared with deafening rants,
‘I don’t want to eat you up,
I want your underpants!’”
This book is a dream to read-aloud and Librarian Jane agrees. I found the cadence off in a couple of spots but it’s easy to improvise to smooth out the word flow. The colorful artwork is equally funny in its own right and perfectly complements the text. Children will roar with laughter as the story gets rolling and enjoy the great pictures.
Claire and Ben have also collaborated on the equally amusing ALIENS LOVE UNDERPANTS and ALIENS IN UNDERPANTS SAVE THE WORLD. Bottom line: for parents, teachers and librarians who are looking for a funny read-aloud book about dinosaurs for little boys and girls that will actually have them laughing out loud, this high concept dinosaur book is a can’t-miss!