Tiny T. Rex and the Perfect Valentine

by Jonathan Stutzman, Jay Fleck (Illustrator)

Overview

Lovable bestselling Tiny T. Rex is back from the critically acclaimed Tiny T. Rex and The Impossible Hug, this time in a Valentine's Day dinosaur board book adventure!

Valentine's Day is coming, which means showing the ones you love how much they mean to you, so Tiny has decided to make the perfect Valentine for his best friend Pointy. But as Tiny discovers, making a Valentine isn't easy. It might take a few tries—until Tiny realizes the best Valentine might have been there all along.

Tiny may be a small dino in a big world, but that won't stop him from making friends, conquering his fears, and stomping his way into your heart. Author Jonathan Stutzman and illustrator Jay Fleck have created an adorable and heartwarming story that shows young readers that love and kindness are the best gift of all.

HOW DO DINOSAURS: Books about dinosaurs tackle many topics, but this one is especially sweet as it explores how a T. Rex can make a Valentine! As Kirkus Reviews notes, this wonderful picture book "succinctly celebrates love, friendship, aspiration, perseverance, limitations, and the notion that it's the thought that counts—especially when it's clearly reflected in effort."

PERFECT KID BOOKS TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY: Tiny's latest adventure, as well as Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug, make sweet Valentine's Day gifts that will delight dinosaur-loving babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

GREAT READ ALOUD BOOK: Delightful text and adorable illustrations make this dino book one kids will love to hear again and again!

Perfect for:

• Dinosaur enthusiasts
• Go-to choice for an adorable, funny story with a holiday twist
• Parents and teachers seeking books that teach lessons about empathy, friendship, and problem-solving
• Fans of the Tiny T. Rex series and popular children's books like How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?, Love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Little Blue Truck's Valentine

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452184890
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	12/29/2020
Series:	Tiny T. Rex Series
Pages:	18
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	2 - 4 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Stutzman is a children's book author and award-winning filmmaker. He loves reading, traveling, creating, and thinking about all sorts of strange and nerdy things. He lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Jay Fleck is an Illinois-based designer and illustrator. He lives with his family south of Chicago, and spends his spare time running and reading (but not at the same time).

Editorial Reviews

A predictably sweet dino-centric take on a classic theme: the heart behind a gift mattering more than the gift itself.”—Publishers Weekly

“Growing fan favorite Tiny T. Rex is back in this sweetly earnest tale of how hard it can be to make the perfect Valentine. . . . The bright, simple illustrations highlight the wonderful mess Tiny makes and his endearing frustration. Concise text makes this perfect Valentine reading for toddler story times. A great addition to board book collections.”—School Library Journal

“[Tiny T. Rex and the Perfect Valentine is a] charming board book that succinctly celebrates love, friendship, aspiration, perseverance, limitations, and the notion that it’s the thought that counts—especially when it’s clearly reflected in effort.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 2021-01-27
Even when well-intended plans go awry, sometimes “I love you” is plastered all over one’s face.

Tiny T. Rex wants to make the perfect valentine for friend Pointy, a stegosaurus. It’s a noble ideal, but perfection is more elusive than the little theropod realized. That’s the premise of this charming board book that succinctly celebrates love, friendship, aspiration, perseverance, limitations, and the notion that it’s the thought that counts—especially when it’s clearly reflected in effort. Like its protagonist, this book is small, but it’s rich in value and works on every level. The artwork has an elegant simplicity that beautifully balances color, personality, and clever detail. A panel of Tiny designing the card in chalk on a blackboard, for example, reveals the scale of the little dino’s intentions: a giant heart, ribbons, smaller hearts dangling from springs, heart-shaped balloons, and fireworks, all much larger than Tiny. The project is clearly a labor of love: Tiny sweats, tugging a bucket of paint—“Pointy’s favorite color!”—but the bucket spills on the artist, not the valentine. Trying to make the card “extra fancy,” Tiny is covered in glitter. Tiny rips, snips, and rerips, trying to make the perfect heart; misspells Pointy; and glues springs and hearts all over everything. When Tiny apologizes for having no valentine for Pointy, Pointy recognizes immediately that the perfect valentine is a friend like Tiny.

A sweet reminder that love is best measured in actions. (Board book. 1-5)

Kirkus Reviews