How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?

Built on the formula of the very successful How Do Dinosaurs Go to Sleep, this picture book playfully imagines how a proper dinosaur would act at school. The first part of the book describes all the negative actions a student could perform, with the sentence formula of asking if a dinosaur would do this or that if it went to school. The last third of the book negates all those possibilities, and presents the positive actions a dinosaur would take, the type of behavior a teacher would find in an ideal student.

The bold illustrations portray a surreal world where vast prehistoric creatures perform mundane activities like driving in a car pool and participating in show and tell. The teachers, parents, and other students are all humans. The show more concept is entertaining and cute, and the illustrations are as wonderful as those in the first book in the series. The story is not as well constructed, however. In the first book, the bad behaviors are symmetrically balanced with the good nighttime behaviors. In this story, the bad behaviors just go on and on, while the balancing proper actions are squeezed in at the end. While the story is still amusing, it has lost the tight format of the first book that made it so excellent. Like a movie, this sequel is entertaining, but just not as good. show less

We might think that dinosaurs would be disruptive at school, and it's fun to imagine how they might cause big problems. Each illustration shows a different dino wreaking havoc in the building and supports the rhyming text that goes with it. For example, "When he gets to the school / does he roughhouse and punch? / Does he make a quick grab / for a classmate's packed lunch?"

But actually, these dinosaurs are MOST respectful and behave just as we'd like. They raise their hands, help others, and keep tidy desks! A fun way to introduce some classroom expectations and pique the interest of all of those dinosaur lovers out there!

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked that the author chose a topic to write about that students could relate to in a fun way. The dinosaurs reflect the actions/behaviors that students should/should not conduct during class. For example, the book asks, "Does he growl during chalk talks or roar out of turn?" This means that students should be quiet until it is their turn to talk. I also liked that the illustrations enhance the story. For example, when the dinosaurs are doing something bad, the teachers and students have unhappy looks on their faces. When the dinosaurs are doing something good, the teachers and students have happy looks on their faces. One thing that I did not like about the book is that it is show more gender-biased. For example, the book refers to all the dinosaurs as "he" and never "she." This book teaches students a lesson that it is important to behave well during class. show less

A familiar model - dinosaur exhibits naughty behavior, then nice - and a fine rhyme scheme, but I didn't like this one as much as "Good Night" and "Eat Their Food."

A great mix of realistic and cartoon style drawings of dinosaurs living in the World with people going to school. In the beginning the story tells of all the fuss a dinosaur could be making because they are different that others, but then the dinosaur actually does well in school and plays nicely with friends. This is a nice book to be a metaphor for a child who feels different from others, and how there is always a place to fit in and acting out is not the answer. It is a cute book that also can gain a love of reading and dinosaurs in general for children. I think parents would love to read this book to their kids and explain how school works by using the dinosaurs!

The main theme of this book is the way we are supposed to behave while at school. For example. not to talk out of turn or make too much noise and disrupt our classmates. Instead, we should help out our classmates and not tolerate bullies, all told through poetry of a dinosaur going to school.
I really liked this book, especially the illustrations. One thing I liked about the illustrations was that I think they went along with what the message was trying to convey. For example, on one page the text reads, "Does a dinosaur yell?" and there is a picture of a dinosaur yelling, but the teacher is in the background with an angry face one. The illustrations are what is telling you that yelling probably isn't acceptable in the classroom. show more Another thing I really liked about the illustrations were that they took up the whole entire page. For example, the text from above were the only words written for two open pages and the rest was covered with colored illustration. The dinosaur yelling takes up the whole right page and also corresponds with what the text is implying. show less

Very cute book on helping kids learn to be at school. The giant dinosaur does all the things that a student shouldn’t do at school like grabbing, roaring and being disruptive. Then he learns and starts to listen and follow directions.