The Tyrannosaurus Game [Library Binding]

Steven Kroll (Author), Tomie dePaola (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1976

A group of children relate their adventures with a tyrannosaurus.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 1—On a rainy day, 12 children sit in a circle in their classroom to make up a story. Jimmy begins by telling how a tyrannosaurus crashed through the window of his house while he was eating breakfast Saturday morning. On successive spreads, each child adds to the story with a sentence or two that sends the hapless dinosaur on a chaotic chase onto a bus, through a playground, onto some amusement-park rides, and eventually coming to a stop in a topiary garden where the children try to hide him from the cops. Schindler does his best to add some excitement to the stilted narrative by drawing the tyrannosaurus as a huge, mean-looking beast thrust into absurd situations surrounded by an increasing mob of kids. Although the story could have some merit as an example of a familiar type of storytelling game, the adventure itself is rather pointless and the ending is too abrupt. This picture book does not live up to its promising title.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

On a rainy day, a classroom’s 12 students pass the time by telling a progressive story about imaginary adventures with a dinosaur. Jimmy begins the story on a Saturday, when all of a sudden during breakfast, “a tyrannosaurus came crashing through the window.” Each of Jimmy’s multicultural classmates continues the plot with a simple and short addendum. Their ideas range from the silliness of a dinosaur on a seesaw to straightforward sentences that just move things along: “I was on a swing . . . and then I jumped off and ran.” Most of the interest is generated by the ink, gouache, and watercolor illustrations, which provide details of the town’s destruction described in the story after the T. rex gets loose. Stronger in concept than in execution, this offering nevertheless ends on a winning note with a final visual scene in which the kids cleverly hide the dinosaur from the police, who are hot on their trail. Teachers may want to use this to initiate some collaborative, rainy-day storytelling in their own classrooms. Grades K-2. --Andrew Medlar --This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 39 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; Weekly Reader Children's Book Club ed edition (March 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823402754
• ISBN-13: 978-0823402755
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,412,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Kroll is the author of many beloved picture books for children, including "Pooch on the Loose: A Christmas Adventure", illustrated by Michael Garland; "The Biggest Pumpkin Ever", illustrated by Jeni Bassett; and "A Tale of Two Dogs", illustrated by Mike Reed. He lives with his wife in New York City and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A top pick for picturebook collections!, August 17, 2010

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tyrannosaurus Game (School & Library Binding)

Steven Kroll's THE TYRANNOSAURUS GAME receives S.D. Schindler's drawings and will reach ages 4-8 as it tells of bored kids who participate in a run 'round-room' game begun by Jimmy, who starts a story and passes it around. All the kids make up crazy new scenes for the story - with some unexpected results. A top pick for picturebook collections!