Review by Booklist Review
Summertime sales are slow at Otto's Used Cars. Then a surprising potential buyer arrives: a stegosaurus. Thankfully, young Ava and Mickey prove able assistants and sales associates for their baffled uncle Otto, as Ava explains stegosauruses eat plants, and Mickey suggests an off-roader to drive deep into the forest to find mosses and ferns to snack on. Sold! A pterodactyl appears next (telling them, It's too hot to fly ) and departs in a sporty convertible. Then a triceratops appears again and again, dino buffs Ava and Mickey successfully connect each creature with the just-right vehicle. However, spiky-toothed, grumpy Tyrannosaurus rex is a more intimidating and demanding customer. What could possibly be a good fit? Animated text makes for fun reading and read-alouds, while Biggs' cartoonish, blocky illustrations with retro flair lend further humor and liveliness, from mustachioed, plaid-pants-wearing Otto to the expressive, polka-dotted dinosaurs squeezing themselves into cars. Abundant witty details great and small throughout, like the car lot's ever-changing signs, amplify the laughs. A delightful blend of dinosaurs with things that go, sure to entertain aficionados of both.--Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Business is so slow at Uncle Otto's used car lot that he declares, "I will sell a car to anyone-or anything-that shows up!" Then dinosaurs descend: improbably hued beasts, sporting multicolored polka dots, who loom over the small, roly-poly humans. "I'm looking for a car," a stegosaurus says. "What do you recommend?" Uncle Otto is flummoxed, but his plucky niece and nephew, Ava and Mickey, are both dinosaur aficionados and intuitive salespersons. "You like the wind and you're a fish eater," Mickey tells a tired pterodactyl before suggesting a convertible so "you can drive to the beach and glide from the cliffs to the ocean." A T. rex almost stumps-and stomps-them ("Can you really see me driving a minivan?" it booms), but Ava and Mickey find the perfect match: a monster truck. The story ends with more of a thud than a bang, but Lee (Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street) and Biggs (the Frank Einstein series) do succeed in giving families a new road trip game that doesn't involve screens: What Kind of Dinosaur Would Drive That Car? Ages 3-7. Author's agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Used-car salesman Uncle Otto, desperate to make a sale, vows to sell a car to anyoneor anythingthat shows up. But when dinosaurs begin lumbering onto the lot looking for deals, Uncle Otto is flummoxed (and frightened). Luckily, niece Ava and nephew Mickey are visiting, and they know a few things about dinosand sales. The two suggest an off-road vehicle for a stegosaurus so the plant eater can drive deep into the forest to find mosses and ferns to snack on. They sell a convertible to a fish-eating Pterodactyl: You can drive to the beach and glide from the cliffs to the ocean. While Lees straight-faced text calmly relates the story, Biggss expressive digitally colored brush and ink art fills in details and expands on the narrative. His comical cartoon illustrationswith massive dinosaurs jammed, clown carlike, into people-size vehiclesbring the kooky premise to life. So what kind of car does a T. Rex drive? Once again, the kids come up with the perfect suggestion: a monster truck, of course. Smashed cars, expert kids, dinosaurs! Customer satisfaction guaranteed! kitty flynn July/Aug p.110(c) Copyright 2019. 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
Dinosaurs and vehicular modes of transportation meld in symbiotic bliss.What's a used car salesman to do? Ava and Mickey's uncle Otto is having a summer sale, but the customers aren't coming. Or are they? When dinosaurs arrive looking for wheels, the kids' dino knowledge helps to put the right terrible lizard in the right car. The herbivorous stegosaurus gets one that it can take off the road and into the forests, for instance. Then a T. Rex with a short fuse arrives on the scene, and it'll be curtains for our heroes unless they can find him the best transport (and pronto!). Colorful and goofy, even the Rex, these dinos are the visual stars of this show. Much of the brush and ink work (colored digitally) appears simple, but details lurk, such as the perpetually changing signs around the lot. And one of the best unspoken gags is how every ungainly creature gamely drives off the lot, no matter how oversized they might be. The range of cars exceeds that of dinosaurs, but kids who are fans of either will find plenty to enjoy. Alas, while the book does take care to include a female dino in the mix, she stereotypically buys the only vehicle with flowers on it and calls a saleskid "a dear." Ava, Mickey, and Uncle Otto all have light skin and straight, black hair.Only the extinct would fail to enjoy this kicky amalgamation of dinos, deals, and automobiles. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
