Review by Booklist Review
In a charming case of mistaken identity, a dinosaur hatchling is convinced a fierce T. rex is his father. After a satisfying day of stomping, roaring, and scaring every saurus he saw, Tyrannosaurus rex relaxes in a cave for a good night's sleep. As the sun rises, T. rex is rudely awakened by a small green dinosaur hugging his giant foot and shouting, Dada! Little Rex proceeds to stick to his dad like glue, overcoming the T. rex's objections with his enthusiastic mimicry. James' humorous watercolor illustrations capture the pair's activities. They roar together across a jagged crevasse. They smash boulders and rip up trees or tiny saplings in young Rex's case. Later, while lounging by a lava stream, T. rex confesses that he is not really the little dinosaur's dad. Deflated and unsure where he belongs, Rex runs off during the night and is pursued by unfriendly dinos until a familiar, booming roar comes to the rescue. Pair this sweet father-son story with Ryan T. Higgins' Mother Bruce (2015) for another amusing take on unconventional families.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In an entertaining tale of prehistoric (adoptive) parenting, James (Nurse Clementine) introduces a "terrifying tyrannosaurus" who loves to harass the local populace: "He scared the stegosaurus. He scared the brontosaurus. He scared every saurus he saw!" One night in his cave, the foreboding dino is awakened by a tiny T. rex who has hatched from an abandoned egg. Having found the large sleeping dinosaur, he speaks his first word: "Dada!" Rex eagerly imitates his new role model, whose iciness begins to melt. But after he bluntly denies paternity ("You know, I'm not really your dad. You found me in a cave"), Rex sets off to discover "where he really belonged." James's loose watercolor-and-ink illustrations comically highlight the contrast between the dinosaurs' sizes and personalities, especially in scenes that show Rex trying to keep up with his adoptive father's tree-uprooting, boulder-smashing, and dino-scaring. Rex's night alone in the woods is just scary enough (even herbivores have menacing teeth in James's world), and the tender closing reunion puts to rest any question of who Rex's father really is. Ages 2-5. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
"Once upon about 65 million years ago, there lived a terrifying tyrannosaurus. He could crush boulders with his bare claws. He could pull whole trees out of the ground." While most dinosaurs stay out of the tyrannosauruss way, a tiny just-hatched dinosaur crawls toward his huge foot one night and declares him "Dada!" The big dinosaur soon warms to the persistent little guy (self-named "Rex") who, rather than running in fear, follows him about admiringly, imitating his every move. When the tyrannosaurus reminds eager Rex that he is not his real father, Rex feels lost. He slips away to find where he really belongs. Almost immediately, he is surrounded by hungry predators, but manages to escape using the roar he learned from the big dinosaur. When Rex and his father figure finally reunite the next morning, readers know that these two have formed a true family bond at last. "I hope Im as terrifying as you when I grow up, Dad," says Rex. This warm father-and-son adventure has an exciting plot and features cameos by all kinds of dinosaurs (unfortunately including brontosaurus, who is no longer recognized as a dinosaur) with big personalities; with young Rex painted a bright spring green to hold the focus, the amusing, expressive pastel-hued illustrations done in watercolor and ink keep all the aggressive action light and nonthreatening. julie roach (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Single parenting, T. Rex style. Huge, roaring, toothy T. Rex beds down for the night in a handy empty caveand wakes with a tiny hatchling theropod staring up at him adoringly: "Dada!" Bellowing, "You're no Rex!" the discomfited dino lumbers off for a daily round of smashing rocks, uprooting trees, and scaring "every saurus" he sees. But Little Rex trots along and soon is pounding boulders and tearing out (small) trees of his own in imitation. Bonding ensuesand survives big Rex's frank admission that he's not Little Rex's real father. "I hope I'm as terrifying as you when I grow up, Dad." "I'll make sure of it," replies big Rex. "That's what dads are for!" James never troubles to explain how Little Rex, or more precisely his egg, came to be left in the cave; evidently family arrangements "once upon about 65 million years ago" were fairly casual. Anyway, in splashy, melodramatic cartoon scenes featuring a variety of wide-eyed dinosaurs against a backdrop of erupting volcanoes, James exaggerates the size differential between the two rexes to comical effect, endows Little Rex with a cute overbite, and closes with shared smiles. A cozy bit of new-family makingperhaps better not taken too literally. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
