What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night (What the Dinosaurs Did #1)

by Refe Tuma (Author)

What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night (What the Dinosaurs Did #1)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

From the creative parents who brought the world the web sensation "Dinovember" comes photographic proof of what toys get up to when the rest of the house is asleep. Y

ou might have noticed weird things happening in your house. Unexplainable messes. Food all over the kitchen floor. Who could the culprits be? Dinosaurs!

Boasting bright and hilarious photographs, along with a story written from the point of view of an older, wiser sibling, Refe and Susan Tuma's picture book documents a very messy adventure that shows just what the dinosaurs did last night.

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Publishers Weekly

This toys-come-alive story uses the seeming verisimilitude of photography and a passel of ubiquitous plastic dinosaurs to make very funny magic (this book was inspired by the Tumas' Tumblr, "Dinovember," and a version for adults was published in 2014). Shot almost entirely in the Tumas' house, the comic tableaus assert that the toy dinos are running wild by night--well, not "running," exactly, since they are as immobile as when they emerged from the manufacturer's mold. But given the right camera angles and clever propping, it becomes remarkably and delightfully easy to project vividly mischievous personalities onto these inanimate critters. Place a squirt bottle of mustard in the hands of one, and a condiment outlaw is born; stick a pigtailed doll wig on another, and it's a whole new twist on "fierce." The text can be overly literal ("Your parents probably don't let you play in the bathroom, but dinosaurs aren't very good at following the rules"), but it successfully captures the wonder, exasperation, and secret admiration provoked by these terrible lizards' terrible behavior. Ages 3-6. Agent: Kristyn Keene and Liz Farrell, ICM Partners. (Oct.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr2—Filled with whimsy and imagination, this book will delight children of all ages as a group of rogue dinosaurs seek misadventure, since they "aren't very good at following the rules." Reminiscent of the humor and themes (toys come alive when children go to sleep) from the movie Toy Story, this picture book comes alive with bold action. In an authors' note, the Tumas detail the origins of the work and how they decided to document their children's dinosaur toys as they came to life each night. This book is a collection of photographs inspired from their Dinovember collections on social media. Scenes range from mud-filled messes, art inspired graffiti as "sometimes they go too far" and spray paint each other to images of the dinos playing in the laundry room, where the authors' warn that "dinosaurs are dry clean only." Detailed photographs will keep kids turning the pages and parents enjoying the rockling dino antics. VERDICT Recommended for picture book collections and coffee tables alike.—Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Refe Tuma
Refe and Susan Tuma live in Kansas City with their four children and a herd of plastic dinosaurs. The Tumas began cataloguing their dinosaurs' antics in 2012, igniting the imaginations of hundreds of thousands of children--young and old--across the world.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316420488
Lexile Measure
570
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
October 02, 2018
Series
What the Dinosaurs Did
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV002060 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
JUV040000 - Juvenile Fiction | Toys, Dolls & Puppets
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Dinosaurs
Behavior
Toys
Conduct of life

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