Gigantosaurus

by Jonny Duddle, Jonny Duddle (Illustrator)

Overview

His feet go STOMP! His jaws go CRUNCH! In the blink of an eye you’ll be his LUNCH!

Four young dinosaurs are warned about the scary Gigantosaurus, so one of them volunteers to keep watch for the others while they play. But Bonehead, the lookout, quickly gets bored, and he can’t resist shouting, “GIGANTOSAURUS!” just to see what the others do. When his friends finally wise up, Bonehead is in for a rather snappy (and crunchy) surprise!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783700516
Publisher:	Templar Books
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Series:	Jonny Duddle
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.69(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Jonny Duddle was a concept artist for Aardman Animations’ feature film The Pirates! Band of Misfits, starring Hugh Grant. He has also written three other popular picture books, The King of Space, The Pirate Cruncher, and the bestseller The Pirates Next Door, which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2012. He lives in Wales with his wife and their two little girls.

Editorial Reviews

A delight for dinosaur devotees, with a rhyming text and repetitive structure that will make it a storytime winner as well.
—Kirkus Reviews

The lessons of Aesop’s fables are just as applicable in the Cretaceous as they are today, as Duddle demonstrates in a witty cautionary tale that boils down to “The Ankylosaurus Who Cried Wolf.” ... Duddle’s digital illustrations create a rich prehistoric world with an almost sculptural depth, and his bug-eyed dinosaurs exude personality. Bouncy rhymes and a narrative propelled by alternating moments of terror and relief make for a lively, mischievous read.
—Publishers Weekly

Most kids will enjoy this raucous rhyming story. The full-bleed, earth-tone digital cartoons are appropriately exaggerated and fraught with tension without being frightening. A note at the end introduces the real and made-up creatures that appear in the story. Fans of dinosaurs and those who love action will enjoy this prehistoric romp.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2014-04-30
A variation on "The boy who cried wolf," set well before Aesop existed—or, for that matter, boys and wolves.Following parental warnings—"His feet go STOMP! / His jaws go CRUNCH! / In the blink of an eye, / you'd be his LUNCH!"—little Bonehead volunteers to be a lookout for his three timorous hatchling buddies. Several bogus alarms and one nearly fatal encounter with the titular monster ensue. Except for the invented Gigantosaurus, the dinos in Duddle's luxuriantly detailed prehistoric scenes are all named and recognizable, if somewhat anthropomorphized, versions of real ones—Bonehead is an Ankylosaurus, and his pals are a Triceratops, a Parasaurolophus and a Brachiosaurus. For comedic effect, though, he exaggerates the size differential between the popeyed youngsters and the grown-ups, who are all so humongous that often only portions of their heads or feet fit into the frame. Rearing up on a foldout page, toothy Gigantosaurus makes a particularly rousing climactic entrance.A delight for dinosaur devotees, with a rhyming text and repetitive structure that will make it a storytime winner as well. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews