Children’s Corner: Here Comes Destructosaurus! by Aaron Reynolds, Illustrated by Jeremy Tankard

 

Here Comes Destructosaurus! by Aaron Reynolds
Illustrator: Jeremy Tankard
Published by Chronicle Books on 2014-04-01
Length: 32 pages
Reviewing Hardcover from Library
Rating:

Watch the unstoppable destructive force of a raging temper tantrum! Tremble at the enormous mess and disrespectful roaring! Despair as no amount of scolding can stem the heedless fury! Someone is heading for a time-out, Mister! Anyone who has witnessed (or been) a toddler in the throes of a full-blown fit will delight in this clever book's moviemonster rampage, and may just come away from it with a bit more sympathy for toddler and caregiver.

Here Comes Destructosaurus! by Aaron Reynolds is a highly entertaining read for all ages. A young sea monster comes to terrorize New York City. Angry and destructive the monster doesn’t take into account the people that are in the way or the mother/father figure telling him what a bad monster he is being. All the while he is only looking for his teddy bear….

This book was a great find at our local library. My son, who is three, loves every word of this fun tale and begs “Read it again!” as soon as we are finished. What I think makes it so entertaining is that he is in this toddler stage of talking, but not wanting to listen to reason, and obviously also getting into trouble, pushing boundaries. If you have a toddler or around one for any amount of time, I believe you will enjoy the author’s humor. Reynolds gets the toddler and parent dynamic down perfect!

Wait. What’s that in your hand?

No, I know that’s a train station. I mean, in your other hand.

Not only is the verbiage hilarious but the illustrations by Jeremy Tankard are colorful and fun, breathing life into Destructosaurus. My son, who has now heard the story more times than I can count, can “read” the story to me just from looking at the pictures. He also likes to point out the destruction Destructosaurus causes.

But all of that aside, the story is a great teaching tool. Toddlers and preschoolers find Destructosaurus funny but also not obeying and destroying everything in search of a beloved teddy bear. My son looks at me every time and shakes his head. Though he laughs and laughs, he says “Mama, he’s in trouble.” And I nod and use it as a time to reiterate manners and using our words.

Overall, this book gets five stars from both my son and me. The illustrations and fun story are for all ages. Where the kids will see humor in Destructosaurus’s antics, adults will see it in the frustrations of the narrator. If you have a child that enjoys dinosaurs or maybe is a tad destructive 😉 I highly recommend this book.

PS Thank you Nana for sending a hardcopy of the book through the mail! It made returning the library’s copy much easier 😀

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