Picture Day at Dino Play, by Sean Julian, (Sept. 2024, NorthSouth Books), $19.95, ISBN: 9780735845527
Ages 4-8
It’s Picture Day at Dino Daycare, and Freda is excited to wear her favorite hat – her grandma gave it to her! – for her picture. After playtime, Freda discovers her hat is missing, and it’s not easily recovered: a bird has made a nest of her hat! Does Freda grab her hat and run for it or does she consider giving her hat to a new family? Julian uses a school event we’re all familiar with – Picture Day – to tell a story of sharing and empathy. Miss Beak, the teacher, shows kindness, too: she encourages the class to make arts and crafts hats for their class picture, helping Freda feel bolstered by her decision. Readers familiar with the Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care will delight in seeing the gang return for a new adventure, and new readers will enjoy a sweet dinosaur story. Warm pastels make the dinosaurs even more lovable and Julian adds fun prehistoric touches to the artwork: the weather board, a preschool mainstay, shows volcanos, aliens, and a meteor strike in addition to sun, rain, and rainbows; prehistoric fauna decorate the landscape. A very sweet addition to storytime collections.
Mom Read It 