Dinosaur Scramble By Jeanne Willis

Illustrated by Arthur Robins
Review by The Mole

Darwin is to have a little brother or sister shortly because his mother has laid an egg. But is it the right egg? And then Flint, the t-rex, kidnaps the egg so Darwin's mum must prepare his wedding feast? Can Darwin sort it out? Can anyone sort it out? Can you not laugh at their attempts?

Darwin's family takes the concept of a dysfunctional family and makes even more dysfunctional. Jeanne Willis also manages to do it in a way that adults, while reading aloud, will get a lot out of too. Genuinely laugh out loud at lots of times and totally unpredictable to the last, these Downtown Dinosaur books are really wonderful books that will delight both girls and boys equally.

But let's not forget those all important  illustrations by Arthur Robins with each one complementing the story line and adding to the humour - ace!

Another great children's read!

Publisher - Piccadilly Press
Genre - Children's 8+, Fiction

Buy Downtown Dinosaurs: Dinosaur Scramble from Amazon

Dinosaurs In Disguise by Jeanne Willis

Review by The Mole

The second Downtown Dinosaurs adventure starts when Uncle Darwin, a stegosaurus,  has lost his hat and on his hunt for it he sees there is a new carnivorous dinosaur in town. A big one! Bigger than any that he has seen before. Dippy has gone missing and Beastwood is hunting him down. This is not a good time for Darwin to get lost in the primeval forest, but he does and his family go to look for him - disguised as trees!

Zany, engaging and very funny is the quick summary of this book. It won't teach children about dinosaurs (although there is a guide to pronunciation in the back), the pictures (of which there are many and are cartoon like in black and white) don't look like real dinosaurs and dinosaurs didn't really talk English and live in houses. What it will do is entertain young readers and encourage them in their reading and make sure that they enjoy it too. But parents should always be sure about what their children read so why not read it first? I'm sure you will enjoy it too. I did!

Publisher - Piccadilly Press
Genre - Children's 8+, Fiction

Buy Downtown Dinosaurs: Dinosaurs in Disguise from Amazon