Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur?

How can one find something that one can't sense? For this picture book's narrator, the trouble begins when the invisible dinosaur of the title "had gotten REALLY dirty," requiring a "big, BIG bath." But mud made the dinosaur visible, and now that it's clean, the animal is the very definition of whereabouts unknown. The child, who reads as East Asian and sports a big yellow sun hat, is a picture of industrious and tenacity, laying out a trail of jelly sandwiches (soon eaten by other creatures) and posting "Lost Dinosaur" signs. But they lament that on a "pretty and sunny day"--one without falling rain, snow, or leaves to outline the creature--discovery seems unlikely. Yoon (I'm a Unicorn) depicts forward-moving action with distinctly angular but softly textured, sunlit images composed mostly along a single, minimalist plane, while background information (depicting the ill-advised bath, for example) arrives via spreads ostensibly crayoned and annotated by the child. A joyful reunion ensues when the dinosaur's jelly-stained mouth emerges from a meadow that seems to sparkle with flowers, proving that a best friend is usually right where one needs them to be. Ages 3-7. Agency: Rubin Pfeffer Content. (May)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"Yoon's minimalist mixed media illustrations and generous use of white space activate the imagination, inviting readers into a hidden world of wonder, with the disappeared dino's contours revealed by rain sluicing off his back or jam staining his cheeks. . . . This picture book's concise word count and conceit of directly addressing the reader make this an excellent interactive pick for a storytime for younger audiences, just make sure there's enough room for every child's invisible dinosaur to find a seat." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books