Children's Literature @ NYPL

Booktalking "Tyrannoclaus" by Janet Lawler

Ready for Christmas with dinosaurs? Then this is the book for you. Tyrannoclaus (a Tyrannosaurus rex) has presents for stegosaur girls. He has tasty treats for carnivores and herbivores, whatever delectable delights that they crave. Tyrannoclaus and helpers wrap up presents for believing dinos, but triceratops babies would not go to bed, while exasperated and angry dino moms and dads plead and beg with their progeny.

There is a crisis in dino land! Tyrannoclaus's list has disappeared. Unfortunately, a hungry herbivorous assistant nibbled it. Then a mountain erupted once they were in the air in a sleigh pulled by four dinos, and gifts were popping right out of the sleigh! Luckily, whether the dino kids were behind logs or on a hilltop, everyone on Tyrannosaurus' list got gifts. The dino kids were so happy on the best day of the year for dinosaurs.

Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler, 2009

John Shroades did a fantabulous job of creating beautiful, softly colored, magical illustrations. I loved the colors in the illustrations, and the whimsy in them (one dino had a candy cane in his mouth). In one moonlit picture, the dinos obscure the moon as a woolly mammoth watches them. One page features four spherical ornaments, each one decorated with a different dino's face. I was impressed by the magical nature of Christmas in dinosaur land and the variety of dinosaur species that were represented. I did not know about Christmas with dinosaurs, and I was delighted to discover what that entailed!