From the Publisher
How does a dinosaur eat all his food?Does he burp, does he belch, or make noises quite rude?Does he pick at his cereal, throw down his cup,hoping to make someone else pick it up? Just like kids, dinosaurs have a difficult time learning to behave at the table. However, with a little help from Mom and Dad, these young dinosaurs eat all before them with smiles and goodwill. As in their previous books, Yolen and Teague capture children's rambunctious natures with playful read-aloud verse and wonderfully amusing pictures.
Child Magazine
Sure, this one is a natural for young dino lovers, but it's also perfect for any child with primordial-style table manners. Hunkered down at a tiny table (with human parents gazing up in horror), each giant beast demonstrates what not to do: "Does he bubble his milk? Stick beans up his nose? Does he squeeze juicy oranges with his big toes?" Yes, indeed, until halfway through the book, when each young dinosaur learns to try "every new thing, at least one small bite. He makes no loud noises-that isn't polite." (ages 2 to 4)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2005
Publishers Weekly
Echoing the tone and look of How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?, these collaborators' latest guide to dino etiquette offers a jaunty comedy of errors, er, table manners. In the first half, against spare backdrops with a 1950s feel, dinosaurs behave kid-pleasingly naughtily when their human parents serve them meals. As Yolen's rhyming narrative asks questions ("How does a dinosaur eat all his food? Does he burp, does he belch, or make noises quite rude?"), Teague's illustrations provide affirmative answers, comically capturing the dining dinos' antics: one is covered in spaghetti after throwing his plate into the air, another blows bubbles in his milk glass and a third lies on the floor, happily sticking beans up his nose. The tables turn in the second half, when narrative and pictures offer Miss Manners alternatives while revisiting the same prehistoric heroes. One willingly says "Please" and "Thank you" (while wearing a bib) and another "tries every new thing, at least one small bite. He makes no loud noises--that isn't polite." Young dinosaur fans will enjoy encountering novel characters here (all labeled on the endpapers), as Teague has invited an unusual array of species to this tasty feast. Ages 3-5. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
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Children's Literature
The team of Yolen and Teague add another amusing set of questions and answers to their "How Do Dinosaurs . . . ?" series. Rhyming couplets across double pages first ask whether dinosaurs practice some of the eating behaviors frowned on by parents, such as making rude noises, fidgeting, spitting out food, etc. A firm "No" is followed by what would make parents happy. These dinosaurs say "Please" and "Thank you" and sit still quietly. They try new foods, and "never drop[s] anything onto the floor." After laughing at the naughty dinos, children are reminded how they can make parents smile as they say "Eat up." On the end-papers Teague displays small paintings of the ten dinosaurs—all labeled—in action to whet our appetites for more antics in the detailed scenes inside. His illustrations are naturalistic enough to handle the funny postures and gestures depicted. The one or two humans and frequent puzzled pets add scale and a surreal touch to the sometimes wild actions. Included in a plastic case inside is a bonus hand-sized soft cover replica of the large format book. 2005, Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, Ages 3 to 6.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-Another addition to the humorous series that began with How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (Scholastic, 2000). In the first part of the book, dinosaurs burp, belch, and display all kinds of other inappropriate behaviors during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Spinosaurus doesn't "eat all his food...[he spits] out his broccoli partially chewed." Quetzalcoatlus fusses, fidgets, and squirms in his chair in a restaurant, while Amargasaurus flips his spaghetti high into the air. But, is this the way that dinosaurs should act? Of course not. So, a very genteel Cryolophosaurus says "please" and "thank you" while sitting very still, Lambeosaurus tries everything at least once, and Spinosaurus never drops anything onto the floor. In the last image, a very proper Cryolophosaurus-with pinky in the air-daintily eats his pancakes. The book is great fun, and sure to be popular with dinosaur lovers. Hidden in the illustration on each page is the proper name of the reptile portrayed therein. Teague's gouache-and-ink illustrations contain just the right amount of detail and whimsy, and they are large enough for storytime sharing. Children not yet old enough to read will still enjoy looking at the pictures by themselves.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Dynamic dinosaur duo Yolen and Teague team up again, this time tackling the touchy topic of table manners. Their signature rhyming text and hilarious illustrations introduce an ensemble of wacky giant reptiles in the end pages and show them engaged in a spectrum of really terrible table tantrums. An orange and purple Cryolophosaurus rudely burps and belches. A ponderous Protoceratops picks at his cereal and throws down his cup. A quirky winged Quetzalcoatlus fusses, fidgets and squirms in his chair in a busy restaurant. An out-of-control pink-and-blue-striped Amargasaurus flips a plate of spaghetti into the air while a spotted Spinosaurus slyly spits out his partially chewed broccoli, a huge Lambeosaurus bubbles his milk and a recumbent Gorgosaurus pokes string beans up his nose. Readers soon discover these gargantuan diners actually have exemplary table manners, suggesting that little dinosaurs everywhere might do well to follow their lead and "eat up." A humorous, highly palatable read-aloud primer on table etiquette for the preschool dining set. (Picture book. 3-5)
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