Dinosaur Dig!
Dinosaur Dig! has everything that gets small boys excited – diggers, dinosaurs and dirt plus a bit of counting thrown in for good measure. Bursting with energy and noise and with a splashy, surprising ending, it’s an absolute riot of a book.
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Camilla says: “As soon as I took this out of the envelope I knew it was for us. It’s only since having kids and hanging out with my friends’ sons that I’ve realised just how utterly obsessed they are by vehicles and the details of machinery. Really, it’s all some of them want to read about. I am a huge fan of Penny’s work and my children just adore Ten in the Bed, so it’s really exciting to have her on the list.”
Penny says: “Everyone knows that boys love diggers, but my little grandson amazed me by expressing intense enthusiasm from about 9 months. He’s now 18 months and the passion is undiminished. He says “Di…gger” for most vehicles, but also likes to get up close to tyres and wheel nuts, patting them fondly and crooning “Di…gger.”
I felt I had to make a book with this in mind, using words that conjure the weight, clanking noise and dust of heavy machinery. I wanted to draw the diggers with all the details, mud and shiny parts that he seems to love. When it came to who’s driving, I thought … ‘Dinosaurs.’ Their scale, mass, jaws and claws made them perfect partners for the enormous machines.
I’m delighted that Nosy Crow is ready to rev up the engines and get digging.”
Penny’s written about the experience of creating a book for boys in a guest post for The Book Trust blog
Excerpt: One dinosaur digging.
Digging a hole…
A very big hole.
Dig! Dig! Dig!
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Reviews
“Rhythmic prose and great use of sound words (Clatter! Sploosh! Thump!) combine to make Dinosaur Dig a delight to read aloud, whilst boasting big appeal for any kid who likes dinosaurs or diggers or a combination of both!”
“Zoomin marvellous … Penny Dale’s picture is a rollocking dinosaur centric ride”
“Penny Dale has taken the ingenious decision to go the whole hog – or brontosaurus – here by combining outrageous dinosaurs with assorted heavy goods vehicles, sports cars, tractors and the like. For the prehistoric speed freak, this is a roaring delight”
“Penny Dale has a new slant on ever-popular prehistoric animals in her picture book Dinosaur Zoom! Whether driving a blue convertible through the desert or reversing a lorry into the woods, these dinosaurs practically leap from the page.”
“Little boys love dinosaurs. Little boys love trucks. Put the two together in the worryingly appealing Dinosaur Zoom! and you have the recipe for a night-time battle over bedtime stories. Resign yourself to reading the same book over and over again for the next two years – and make sure it’s a girl next time.”
“A perfect mix of dinosaurs and trucks, lots of movement and action in the illustrations, and fun rhythmic text … All children’s libraries should have this one, it’s a keeper!”
“This book is a pleasure for the eyes and a perfect read aloud for any small child up to age seven.”
“Ten industrious dinosaurs work hard to make a swimming pool together, using a variety of construction vehicles in this fun and original counting book full of loud noises … this book will also appeal to girls with its bright colours and humourous detail of dinosaurs squeezing into diggers, drinking cups of tea and having fun together.”
“Bright busy pictures full of detail will capture children’s attention as they enjoy this romp through a digging project.”
“A perfect picture book. Let me count the ways: Dinosaurs – tick; Diggers – tick; counting – tick; proper story – tick. And here’s the bonus point: endpapers where the front one gives all the dinosaurs their proper names and the back one all the diggers”
My 2 year old son loves this book! The dinosaur counting, the trucks and the storyline are very engaging. The only issue is my son is obsessed with knowing each type of dinosaur and I’m having a hard time figuring it out for him. He asks “who is this?” every night when we read the book.
Similar to Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton, it would have been great if you had a legend of your dinosaurs at the end of the book as a reference. Do you have this documentation anywhere?
Much appreciated!
Thanks,
Negin
Negin K. Wednesday January 9, 2013 #
Hi, Negin. The dinosaurs with their names are on the front endpapers in the hardback version of the book, which I am sure you would find in a bookshop or library. And the back endpapers are the vehicles with their names. But endpapers are always dropped from board book versions of hardback picture books (I can’t think of an exception to this rule), in order to keep costs manageable. This was what Candlewick, who are our partner publishers in the US requested. However, I am sending you via email a digital version of the endpapers so you and your son can make sure you have the right names. Meanwhile, the green dinosaur with the three horns and frills is a triceratops. The brown and yellow dinosaur with the red claws is an allosaurus. The green dinosaur with the blue “beak” and blue spikes on its back is an iguanadon. the brown dinosaur with the flat back with green bumps and spikes on it and a club-shaped tail is an ankylosaurus. The blue feathery dinosaur is a deinonychus. The pink dinosaur with black spots and blue claws us a megalosaurus. The blue dinosaur with the two rows of purple leaf-shaped plates on its back is a stegasaurus. The purple dinosaur with one red horn on its nose and lots of red spikes coming out of the frill on its head is a styrachosaurus. The dinosaur that is blue on top and orange below with big blue feet is a baryonyx. And the blue-green dinosaur on the front cover is a tyrannosaurus rex.
Kate Wilson Thursday January 10, 2013 #
Thanks for postimg the dinosaur list. Could I also get a copy? We read it everyday. Maybe the endpapers could be posted for others to print?
Thank you!
Gabrielle
Gabrielle H. Wednesday May 29, 2013 #
Hi Gabrielle,
Thanks for your message. You can download the endpapers for both of the Dinosaur Books here: nosycrow.com/blog/name-that-dinosaur
Tom Wednesday May 29, 2013 #