I guess dinosaurs should be entitled to a publicly-funded education despite having pea-sized brains. Although this might be a line item Congress should consider chopping during the next round of budget talks...
THREE PROS
*The setup is great because it shows kids all of the bad things that a student can do and then follows it up with the right way of acting
*Encourages kids to be heroes that stand up to bullies in their school
*With the exception of one prehistoric dude with what appears to be a permanent mustard-swirled hot dog on his head, I really liked the pictures in this book
THREE CONS
*Why does the last page have to say "good work" twice -- it totally throws off my delivery
*If the positives follow a chronology, why does the Ceratosaurus leave the classroom and then is all of a sudden painting with that same teacher later
*The first page doesn't quite fit, it being the only neutral section in here (I think the authors should have just jumped right in with all the negative stuff)
ONE DAD'S OPINION
Jane Yolen and Mark Teague seem to have what it takes to churn out quality children's books. They deftly combine a message with humor in both the writing and the imagery. [Even if they had turned in a weaker effort, it's still kind of fun to think of kids and dinosaurs sitting in class together!] It's really close to being a Buy title, but I am always left wanting one or two more positive pages crammed toward the end (the ratio of negative to positive is over two-to-one).
Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy
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