How to Grow a Dinosaur

by Jill Esbaum, Mike Boldt (Illustrator)

Overview

A big-kid dinosaur can’t wait to teach the new baby everything in this funny, tender, joyful take on becoming a big sister or brother, from the celebrated artist of I Don't Want to Be a Frog
 
Good news: Your mom's hatching a baby! Bad news: Babies take their sweet time. And when they finally do hatch? They’re too little to play! They don’t even know how to be a dinosaur. That's where you come in. You can teach your baby everything—from peek-a-boo to roaring to table manners to bedtime. Growing a dinosaur is a big job, but you're perfect for it. Because one thing the baby wants more than anything? It’s to be just like you.

Silly humor and sincere, moving moments, make this hilarious, reassuring, and useful “guide” a must for existing big brothers and sisters and for every big brother and big sister to-be. Great fun for family reading too.

"Fresh . . . Adorable . . . Funny." —Publishers Weekly
"Hysterical . . . Tender." —Kirkus 
"Sweet . . . Allow[s] for maximum comic effect.” —SLJ

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399539107
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	397,690
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Jill Esbuam reads everything—books, magazines, the backs of cereal boxes, you name it. She's a full-time, award-winning writer and the author of I Am Cow, Hear Me Moo!; Stanza, Tom's Tweet; and many others. Jill and her husband live on a farm in Dixon, Iowa, where green walls of corn surround their yard each summer, and she gets to drive a huge tractor each fall harvest under a blue, blue sky.

Mike Boldt is an author and illustrator living in the countryside of Alberta, Canada. He has been illustrating for children for the past fifteen years, including the picture books I Don't Want to Be a Frog and I Don't Want to Be Big. When he's not drawing, he's building snow forts and LEGO spaceships with his three kids, or sharing laughs and his ice cream with his wife.

Editorial Reviews

11/13/2017
Babies can be loud, smelly, and unpredictable, but they also give older siblings a chance to become role models. These are familiar topics, but Esbaum (Frankenbunny) and Boldt (There’s Nothing to Do!) infuse them with fresh comedy by transplanting them to a dinosaur household, where readers meet a newly minted older sibling with orange scales, a huge head, expressive eyes, and a toothy grin. The hero struggles to find footing with the baby (who is pink and quite adorable in its dino diaper), but Esbaum offers the reminder that “you’re the perfect one to teach that baby everything.” Some of the older sibling’s ideas work better than others: presented with the family’s pet saber-toothed cat, the baby promptly turns it into a teether. But soon a happy friendship is forged. Esbaum combines the classic cheerleading tone of the how-to genre with shouted choruses of “Good news!” and “Bad news!” that reflect the peaks and valleys of siblinghood. It’s an ideal setup for Boldt’s broadly funny digital paintings, which include an entire spread devoted to dinosaur tantrums. Ages 2–5. Author’s agent: Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Fresh . . . Adorable . . . Funny." —Publishers Weekly

"Esbaum and Boldt [hit] the serious, the horrific, and the hysterical—and tenderly portray the growing bond between the two children." —Kirkus 

“One of the cutest new sibling picture books I’ve read.” —Imagination Soup

“[A] funny and sweet take on bringing a new addition into a family . . . allowing for maximum comic effect.” —SLJ

“Wonderfully succinct . . . A delightfully funny, tender book on being a big sibling.” —Maria Marshall’s Making Nature Fun

“Hilarious." —Inspiration Laboratories

“A big hit . . . and I can see why. . . . I wish it was around when my oldest was getting ready to become a big sister.” —Picture Books to YA

From the Publisher

2017-11-13
Dinosaur fans expecting a new baby in the family now have a guide to big-siblinghood.Esbaum and Boldt address readers directly in the second person and play up the humor of the ups and downs of having a baby. "Good news!" is followed by "Bad news!": "Your mama's hatching a baby!" but "Babies take their sweet time." Mama dino carries a car seat with an egg strapped inside. Three pages show that the wait is too much for the impatient sibling: dad rescues the egg from a hammer-and-screwdriver threat. Of course, the egg hatches, then it's time to wait until the new baby is big enough to do anything other than scream, eat, burp, sleep, and poop (this last causes the sibling to run away screaming). Gradually, the book continues, it will be your job to teach the baby how to be a dino, but be careful: babies are copycats, so watch your behavior. The digital T. Rexes are each a different color, the new baby pink with a purple pacifier, the older sibling orange with a blue shirt and toys that suggest it may be a boy. While Esbaum and Boldt can't address every aspect of having a new baby around the house, they hit the relevant highlights—the serious, the horrific, and the hysterical—and tenderly portray the growing bond between the two children. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews