How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide
by Ame Dyckman; illus. by Jennifer Harney
Primary    Little, Brown    40 pp.
4/23    9780316593298    $17.99

On a family visit to the natural history museum, a high-energy kid wearing a dinosaur suit asks how the dinosaurs went extinct. Mom’s scientific explanation quickly gives way to Dad’s imaginative and exhaustive list of silly reasons: Gallimimus “ran with scissors”; Ankylosaurus “tipped in their chair”; Brachiosaurus “swallowed their gum.” Dyckman’s wacky, over-the-top humor is paired well with Harney’s exuberant Photoshop collage illustrations. Dinosaurs fill every frame with improbable hijinks, and hilarious facial expressions abound, from human and dino alike. Mom’s exasperation turns to glee when the kid, having heard Dad’s long list of bad behaviors that led to extinction, declares, “I AM NEVER DOING ANY OF THOSE THINGS AGAIN!” In a huge bonus for any grownup reading the book aloud with a young dinosaur fan, phonetic pronunciations for each creature are included right on the page.

From the March/April 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.