PreS-Gr 1-Mo is a little boy who loves dinosaurs. Everything about him screams "dinosaur." He plays with toy dinosaurs. His clothes, towels, and pajamas are covered with pictures of dinosaurs. He even eats and acts like a dinosaur. Mo also has a vivid imagination and would rather play than do some of the things his mother would like him to do. Mo claims dinosaurs don't have dinnertime, bath time, or bedtime. He informs his mother that dinosaurs do not clean their claws or put toothpaste on their jaws. He likes to tell her how they hide in the jungle and don't play nice. His mother is very patient and gently guides him in the right direction. Even though he doesn't want to admit that he's hungry and sleepy, Mo does eat his dinner and gets ready for bed. This is a story that takes listeners inside Mo's imagination. Viewers see him as a little boy and as a silly dinosaur. The illustrations are large and colorful. The text is strategically placed so that the illustrations are the focal point. The dinosaurs and their foolish antics will delight young listeners. This book does provide some teachable lessons about the best way to act. VERDICT A roaring good read-aloud for dinosaur lovers and parents who have little ones like Mo.-Barbara Spiri, Southborough Library, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A little boy intent on his dinosaur persona insists that dinosaurs dont do the things his mother wants him to do. Dinnertime? Not for dinos! They eat whenever they like, according to Mo. The verso shows the two white redheads at the table, his mother sitting nicely and the little boy turned away from the table in his chair and messily using his hands to eat spaghetti and meatballs, green dinosaur-foot slippers on his feet. The recto shows the boys vivid imagination at work: a green dino with bare, very similar feet and with a red-striped belly to match the boys shirt crunches something unidentifiable in the midst of a jungle. This pattern continues throughout as the duo cleans up, takes a bath, dries off, puts on pajamas, plays, has a glass of milk, and heads to bed. While readers may be caught up in this boys admirable ability to pretend, adults will be wondering about this moms spine: Mos naughty antics get no more than a sigh, whether its crayon drawings on the wall or milk bubbles that cascade over the table. In spite of the boys poor behavior, no one will have any doubt of this mothers love as she tucks him tenderly in, the bright, busy digital illustrations speaking volumes. No, dinos dont have to do the same things that little boys do, including have any manners. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Though his inhumanly patient (and single, apparently) mom announces that it's dinnertime, bathtime, and bedtime, Mo, an overstimulated lad wearing clawed slippers and a homemade dino hat, bellows that dinosaurs play rough, hate baths, and eat whenever they like. Though parents and other adult readers will wince both at Mo's volume and, in the cartoon illustrations, at the way he smears up the walls (as mommy looks on smiling), dashes soapy and naked away from the tub, and moons some pretend prehistoric playmates in an imagined scene younger audiences will doubtless roar right along. The brightly colored digital illustrations in a fun cartoon-style keep things from getting too out of hand, and Knapman slips occasional alliteration and rhyme into the exchanges (Towel! GROWL!) to create a read-aloud-friendly cadence. The rampage comes to a suitable end with a pretend snuggle and a good-night kiss: Roar! Roar! Snore . . . When Bob Shea's Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (2008) begins to pall, here's an even wilder rumpus.--Peters, John Copyright 2016 Booklist