The Most Amazing Dinosaur [Hardcover]

James Stevenson (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2000 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Wilfred to rat has found the perfect place to sleep for the night - a big stone building with all the comforts: dinosaur bones, stuffed elephants, and a cafeteria full of tasty sandwiches and pies. Mr Thrawl, the museum director has ideas about uninvited guests...until he sees what they can do to earn their keep.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stevenson (the Mud Flat books) is at the top of his form in this wry, whimsical story. Wilfred the rat pedals into town one night without a place to say, and ends up taking refuge in a huge stone building that turns out to be a natural history museum. Meeting a quartet of live animals amid the dinosaur skeletons, stuffed elephants and apes and so on, Wilfred learns to raid the cafeteria, play hide-and-seek among the exhibits and avoid Mr. Thrawl, the head of the museum. But on his second night, Wilfred and his new friends accidentally collapse a dinosaur skeleton. Mr. Thrawl panics, because "inspectors" are due the following day. By the time they arrive, the dinosaur skeleton is again intact and, much to the inspectors' delight, it is balancing gracefully on one leg, leading them to proclaim the museum "the best they had ever inspected." Cleverly, the author leaves gaps for kids to fill in: they don't see Wilfred and pals reassembling the toppled bones, but they have had an earlier peek at a dinosaur skeleton that one of the characters has built from ice cream sticks. Depicting the amusing antics of his animal cast, Stevenson's watercolor and black pen pictures are every bit as animated as his text. Pure fun, all the way. Ages 5-up. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Wilfred the rat makes an old mansion his temporary shelter on a snowy evening, only to discover that it is filled with tremendous skeletons of every shape and size. Frightened, he stumbles into an owl that explains that they are actually in a museum. Prichett introduces his new acquaintance to the other animals that live there, and they entertain each other as they explore and keep watch out for the curator, Mr. Thrawl. One evening, upon hearing his approach, the occupants hide in a dinosaur skeleton, until one wrong move brings it crashing to the ground. The squatters are kicked out of the museum as the dismayed Mr. Thrawl anticipates the ruin of his career. The next morning, however, an inspection reveals that the dismantled skeleton has been rebuilt into the rarest, most amazing dinosaur ever. The inspectors are thrilled and the curator hires the animals as his assistants. The humor and pacing of this story is absolutely perfect, with the matter-of-fact tone of the text heightened and expanded by Stevenson's quirky watercolor-and-pen illustrations. The story is saved from being one-dimensional and predictable by the fact that the museum head is a totally sympathetic character rather than a stereotypical villain and that Wilfred finds the need to move on to another adventure. This book is bound to please at storytime or anytime.
Tana Elias, Meadowridge Branch Library, Madison, WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (May 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688164323
• ISBN-13: 978-0688164324
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Stevenson a great man!, May 20, 2000

By 

Dirk Maurins - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Most Amazing Dinosaur (Hardcover)

Just finished reading this wonderful book. James Stevenson you have out done yourself again. Your clever story and wonderful pictures really make me feel good inside. This and all your other books really bring back fond memories and my child feels the same passion.

Aloha from Hawaii