M. R. Nelson

I read this book with my grandson who loves dinosaurs. A young boy finds a hole under his bed. When he loses his favourite toy car into the hole, he goes through the magical trapdoor and finds himself in the world of dinosaurs. When he returns home, he draws the dinosaurs he saw. This book was designed to be read with an adult and a beginning to read child. You get a large font with very simple sentences and vocabulary for the child to read, and a smaller box with information that the adult show more can use to give more information to the reader. At the back of the book, there is a Dinosaur Note with some new information about dinosaurs as well as a website to visit to learn more. I think this is a great format for parents and children to read a book together. My grandson already knew a lot of the information such as the name of the dinosaurs and what they ate, but he still enjoyed it. The illustrations will appeal to young children. The dinosaurs are shown in the environment that it is believed they lived in with the little boy hiding somewhere on the page, so the dinosaurs could not see him. A cute book for beginning readers, especially those who love dinosaurs. The publisher, Xist Publishing, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own. show less

Petunia is a little girl who lives in a house that is not a castle and she does not want to be a princess. Petunia loves wearing her favorite sweatshirt, not fancy, frilly dresses like the other princesses. Petunia likes to play outside and get messy. The other princesses do not play like Petunia they want to dance with their princes, so Petunia plays by herself. When a new girl moves in next door, Petunia is excited that she might have a friend, but Penelope is a Princess too. What Petunia show more finds out is that even though Penelope dresses like a princes, she likes to play outside and get messy too. In fact when Petunia gives it a try, she figures out that dancing can be fun. Penelope and Petunia become best friends.

What a great story. We learn that it is okay to be different, little girls do not have to be princesses but can be messy and love sports and playing outside, that we should not judge people by appearances and we should give things a try because we might like them. This is a story that all kids need to read. It is great to be an individual and do what makes you happy. There were simple colourful illustrations that help to tell the story and show the emotion on the faces of the characters. A great book for family, school and class libraries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. show less

Cute picture book with a wonderful message! Petunia is not a princess because she likes to get dirty, climb trees, catch lizards, etc. But, she's lonely. Lucky for her a new girl moves next door. She discovers that she can be friends with kids who like other stuff...like princesses. Illustrations are one of a kind.

A little boy has a magical trap door under his bed. It takes him to the land of dinosaurs. And there are lots of dinos to see. This was a nice book. The added info bits were a nice touch. I think this could be a simple but fun series .