Dinotrux (Dinotrux Series #1)

by Chris Gall

Overview

The original, rip-roaring mash-up of dinosaurs and trucks—perfect for fans of Good Night, Good Night Construction Site--that inspired a Netflix TV series! Includes a surprise fold-out page inside!

Millions of years ago, DINOTRUX ruled the earth! These mighty part-truck, part-dino demolition dynamos rumbled, plowed and bulldozed their way through the centuries. In this toddler-friendly adventure, Chris Gall guides readers on a safari through the wild world of these mechanical monsters of prehistoric times, from the nosy Craneosaurus and the mega-hungry Garbageadon to the big bully of the jungle, Tyrannosaurus Trux!

Look out for a fold-out surprise at the end! And when you're done, check out the next books in the Dinotrux series, Revenge of the Dinotrux and Dinotrux Dig the Beach.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316133920
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Series:	Dinotrux Series , #1
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,106,606
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Chris Gall is the award-winning author and illustrator of Revenge of the Dinotrux, Substitute Creacher, Dear Fish, There's Nothing to Do on Mars, and Dinotrux, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2009. His books have received numerous starred reviews and awards including a Borders Original Voices Book for 2006 for Dear Fish and a Kirkus Best Children's Book for 2008 for There's Nothing to Do on Mars. Chris has won a multitude of awards from organizations like the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts Magazine, and is also the illustrator of America the Beautiful, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2004. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

* "Comically overheated narration... fire-roasted settings and hilariously imagined creatures."—Publisher's Weekly, starred review

* "This title will be hard to keep on the shelves."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "Dinotrux ruled their world, now they're likely to rule this one too. Bellow on!"—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the Publisher

Chris Gall has a lot of fun with the primal place of machines in the lives of small children in his brilliant book Dinotrux. In ripe-to-the-point-of-bursting illustrations—there is something of R. Crumb in his pictures; check out the tiny skirts on the cave ladies!—Gall gives us the creation legend of the truck, our modern vehicles being descendants of the combustion-driven monsters that once roamed free.
—The New York Times

Rich Cohen

Combine dinosaurs and trucks and what do you get? In Gall's (There's Nothing to Do on Mars) case, a passel of grateful readers, especially those of the young male variety. With comically overheated narration and typography (think History Channel meets Ripley's Believe It or Not!), fire-roasted settings and hilariously imagined creatures that suggest the offspring of R. Crumb creations and the Transformers, Gall posits that today's trucks are really the descendants of hulking truck-dinosaur hybrids that "ruled the world" and struck fear into the hearts of cave people. Among the species: the fire truck-like Firesaurus ("SO hot tempered, he snacked on raw lava!") and Rollodon ("he NEVER watches where he's going"), who leaves a trail of flattened reptiles in his wake (to the delight of a caveman who snacks on one, declaring it "Delicious!"). While a "flash of light and a terrible storm" wiped out many of these terrifying creatures, the survivors evolved to become the handy vehicles we all know. And now, thanks to Gall, there are even more reasons to love them. Ages 3-6. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2

What if the prehistoric ancestors of today's mega-utility trucks and 18-wheelers were really dinosaurs? This zany and riotous ride spoofs the evolutionary roots of contemporary trucks. Gall's posterlike spreads, rendered in strong black line and fiery, bold colors, use every square inch of space to convey the energy and witty detail of a dangerous ancient world in which part truck, part dinosaur creatures ruled. Chomping, digging, honking, and rolling, such fearsome creatures as "Craneosaurus," "Dumploducus," and "Blacktopadon" were huge, hungry, and decidedly unhelpful, scaring every caveman and cavewoman in sight. A million years later, a terrible storm doomed these crossbreed vehicles to a slow, rusty decline, sending a few hardy survivors on their way south in search of better weather and a more cooperative way of life. Modern-day descendants of the ancient "dinotrux" are on the job in many helpful ways-but a visual joke on the last page underscores that those in museum displays might not be so extinct after all. Blending the endless appeal of dinosaurs and trucks in one hilarious volume, this title will be hard to keep on the shelves.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT

School Library Journal

The tough working trucks in Kate and Jim McMullan's I Stink! (2002) and sequels look like lightweights next to their brawny prehistoric antecedents in Gall's rousing, grimy full-bleed spreads. Crushing rocks and trees, flattening smaller creatures and sending diminutive cave people fleeing in pop-eyed panic, a round dozen metal behemoths roll by, from towering Craneosaurus-"CRACK, MUNCH. / Look out birds, it's time for lunch!"-and the grossly incontinent Blacktopodon to a stampede of heavily armored Semisaurs and the "bully of the jungle," toothy Tyrannosaurus Trux. Why aren't these motorized monsters with us today? They are, though in the wake of a mighty storm that left most mired in the mud to rust, the survivors went South and, as a climactic foldout reveals, evolved into the more beneficent vehicles we know and love. Dinotrux ruled their world, and now they're likely to rule this one too. Bellow on! (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews

"Chock full of personality.... This is sure to be a winner with elementary readers."

Library Media Connection