Friday Fave - ALL ABOARD THE DINOTRAIN

I'm a little behind on posts. And by little I mean WAAAAAY behind. I forgot how exhausting and time-consuming packing is. You'd think I'd have it all down, this being our fifth move in 7.5 years. But I don't. As a matter of fact, I think I'm worse. I blame it on my kids. Because let's face it, playing ON the boxes is so much more fun than unpacking them.


All Aboard the Dinotrain by Deb Lund
Ages: 2-8

Despite the craziness and clutteriness (not a word) of my house, I was able to find my laptop for Friday Fave. And this one's a doozie. All Aboard the Dinotrain, which is in no way affiliated with the PBS show "Dinosaur Train" (which, by the way is the only show my TV-deprived children are allowed to watch on a regular basis) is a fun one. We got it over a year ago at a Scholastic book fair, and despite it's serious use, the paperback cover has managed to stay intact. That's some good engineering right there.

When I went online to read more about this book I discovered it's the "sequel" to another titled "Dinosailors" which we'll have to dig up. A group of dinosaurs are ready to set off on an adveture aboard a "chugga choo choo train" (as the Little Librarian Dude calls them). However, not long into their trip they discover they're too heavy for the train they all get out an "dinopush" before abandonding all their freight. The story takes them through a tunnel, down a mountain and eventually onto an unfinished bridge before landing in a lake. Water, of course, was not in the travel plans so the weary crew returns home just as a dinoplane passes overhead, foreshadowing their next adventure.

I've mentioned before my kids are dino-obsessed. This obsession has been going strong for over a year now so this book is right up their alleys. It's playful and fun, full of bouncy rhyming text and "dinowords" like "dinofreight" and "dinoplane." It's so very imaginative, my kids love the idea of dinosaurs aboard a train, the LLL obviously recognizes this is impossible, yet still giggles at the idea. The LLD, on the other hand, often places his dino toys aboard his Thomas toys, because in his head, this is obviously what goes on on a train.

The illustrations by Howard Fine are colorful and full of life and detail. I was honestly awed by them the first time we read this story.

We really love this book. It's a cute one to have on your bookshelf and makes a GREAT gift for kids' friends. Really, with subjects like dinos and trains you can't go wrong. It would be like giving my husband a book about sports and math.