Dinosaurs Can’t Roar by Layla Beason (review)

A cartoony, upright, polo-shirted T. rex gets schooled in his own anatomy in this rhymed text aimed at the dino-mad pre-and primary crowd. A Black, female, pith-helmeted paleontologist points out what’s wrong with his image. First, there’s the posture. “We’ve seen Rex look tall, just straight up and down,/with his head in the sky and his tail on the ground,/but the doctor declares the posture that’s best/is his head pointing east and his tail pointing west,” to which Rex replies in a cartoon speech bubble, “This feels strangely comfortable.” He’ll need to add a few feathers, probably down his back; the short arms unfortunately stay, but they probably allow for the strong head and neck muscles that make him a superior chomper. Rex’s buddies are in for a redo as well, as Triceratops sports a more colorful head shield, Stegosaurus learns he does not have a second brain in his butt, and Brontosaurus ditches the moniker Apatosaurus. Then there’s the bad news: none of them can roar, just rumble a bit at best, and two of the them live in different geological periods than the other pair. With a bouncy, info-rich text and great end matter comments that extend the verse explanations, this should be a good choice for a slightly younger audience than Kudlinski’s Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! (BCCB 1/06). Unfortunately, the digital illustrations let the book down; the body changes are often slight, ephemeral, or even at odds with the text, as when Rex stands nearly erect on two legs to munch the office furniture, or Triceratops’ crest bears little resemblance to the description in the author’s notes. Still, this is pleasantly poised between dino lesson and gigglefest, making it a useful selection for classrooms and storytimes.