Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 08/01/2005 PreS-Gr 2-Another addition to the humorous series that began with How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (Scholastic, 2000). In the first part of the book, dinosaurs burp, belch, and display all kinds of other inappropriate behaviors during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Spinosaurus doesn't "eat all his food...[he spits] out his broccoli partially chewed." Quetzalcoatlus fusses, fidgets, and squirms in his chair in a restaurant, while Amargasaurus flips his spaghetti high into the air. But, is this the way that dinosaurs should act? Of course not. So, a very genteel Cryolophosaurus says "please" and "thank you" while sitting very still, Lambeosaurus tries everything at least once, and Spinosaurus never drops anything onto the floor. In the last image, a very proper Cryolophosaurus-with pinky in the air-daintily eats his pancakes. The book is great fun, and sure to be popular with dinosaur lovers. Hidden in the illustration on each page is the proper name of the reptile portrayed therein. Teague's gouache-and-ink illustrations contain just the right amount of detail and whimsy, and they are large enough for storytime sharing. Children not yet old enough to read will still enjoy looking at the pictures by themselves.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. - Copyright 2005 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2005 Now that we’ve mastered being good patients (How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?, BCCB 4/03) and going to bed without a fuss (How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, BCCB 6/00), the next task is learning mealtime behavior. Is it proper, for instance, to be like the Gorgosaurus, who finds great humor in sticking green beans up his nose? Indeed, it is not proper, and nor is tossing spaghetti, throwing cups, or squeezing oranges with one’s toes. Yolen’s short and lively verses make even the most daunting challenges seem like merry adventure rather than cause for dinnertime battle; if you are going to be good, it’s more fun to be a good dinosaur, like the Lambeosaurus who diligently “tries every new thing, at least one small bite.” Teague’s artwork continues to challenge the idea that page space is a finite resource. The dinosaur limbs disappear beyond the edges of the full-bleed illustrations, occasionally even traversing imaginary space to then reenter the page, thus creatively suggesting the subject’s bulk. As in the two previous ventures, most of the humor resides in the expressions of the hapless human caretakers and visually dramatic dinosaur misbehaviors. Even the endpapers join in the fun with a mix of good and bad examples of eating styles and a captioned gallery of the dinosaurs. The repeated readings likely to be requested will reinforce the important lessons, calming the dino-sized bad behaviors of any small child. This outing is a truly painless and certainly entertaining way to introduce good table manners. - Copyright 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.