Tonight T picked out a story by the author of one of the most successful picture books of all time (Giraffes Can’t Dance) so expectations were high when we read I Love My Dinosaur by Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd.
The story is essentially a list of all the reasons a young girl has for enjoying her pet dinosaur. Told through a day we see what brushing dinosaur teeth looks like, enjoy mess and play at school, and laugh at bath time before bed. That’s it really.
I guess that it’s fair to say this is a picturebook aimed squarely at younger readers. There isn’t much of a story, with the book being more a sort of funny list of recognisable situations made more fun because there is a dinosaur. Because of this, there wasn’t much in the way of excitement to hook T and capture his interest. The big, bright illustrations are definitely designed to appeal to younger listeners who will be more focused on the images. We won’t be rushing to read the many other books in the ‘I Love…’ series but they may be worth checking out if you have a younger reader.
Definitely worth a look if you are reading with an under 3 but missable if you are sharing stories with older children. T found some of the spreads recognisable and funny, telling me, “the messy paint at school is funny and naughty.” He whizzed through tonight’s solo read, recalling bits well…
You can get a copy of tonight’s read via the following link…
Father Reading Every Day 
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