*Review* When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor and Zehra Hicks

 

Genre: Children's 1-6 years

Published: February 6, 2024

Pages: 43

Laugh and learn with this picture book set in the days WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH! Dinosaurs chase each other in this hilarious explanation of the food chain.
 
…like the Smallasaurus, who enjoys a plant-based diet, and Badasaurus who likes to eat small dinosaurs who enjoy a plant-based diet.
 
It all begins when Smallasaurus has to think. And thinking can be a problem when you only have a brain the size of a walnut.
 
Luckily, Badasaurus only has a brain the size of a peanut . . . and so begins a hilarious game of 'cat and mouse'.
 
It’s not long before their chasing here, there and everywhere attracts the attention of an absolutely enormous and rather hungry meat-eating dinosaur called Worseasaurus. A choice of two dinosaurs is just what Worseasaurus loves for breakfast.
 
Will she eat the small dinosaur, with a plant-based diet?
 
Or will she eat the great big dinosaur, with a small-dinosaur-based diet? It doesn’t take long for her to choose. And it doesn’t take long for Badasaurus to find out. And that’s how it sometimes was back in the days
 
. . . WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH.
 
This exciting picture book shows kids just how much of a dinosaur-eat-dinosaur world it once was! Bring the prehistoric period out of the classroom and to life on this vibrant journey with dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. This is the perfect way to introduce the concept of the food chain to little ones in a fun and interactive way.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This was a story about a small dinosaur just trying to eat a meal when it encounters a predator dinosaur. Obviously that's not good news for out little friend and he had to figure out a way to escape notice of the predator in order to not become a meal. As you can probably tell from the synopsis, this story doesn't use actual dinosaur names. 

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of reading this book to children who are likely very interested in dinosaurs. It helps that it didn't use real dinosaur names, but I think this could potentially be a traumatic way to introduce the food chain to young children. I think if my child wanted me to read the book more than once I would, but I'm not sure that's a thing they'd ask for. The illustrations were bold and colorful. 

Overall I give When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth 3.5867 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Sean Taylor is an award-winning author of over 50 books for young readers of many different ages. As well as writing, he has many years’ experience visiting schools, where he works with poetry and storytelling to encourage young people to write themselves. He lives with his wife and two sons in Bristol, England. www.seantaylorstories.com

Zehra Hicks is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator whose books have been translated in over 20 languages around the world. Zehra does love a bit of humour, so most of her picture books are guaranteed to make you chuckle. Zehra is also a tutor at Chelsea College of Arts, where she completed a short course in Book Illustration in 2009. Since then, she has been highly commended for the Macmillan Prize for Illustration, winner of the Heart of Hawick Award, named Lovereading4Kids Debut of the Year in 2011, shortlisted for the Read It Again! Cambridgeshire Children's Picture Book Award and nominated for the Kate Greenaway.