Ann James «I’m a Dirty Dinosaur»

In a book that has mud as one of the creative mediums, it’s a given that the dinosaur is dirty. The prehistoric protagonist is drawn with magic pencil (which creates a thin rainbow-hued line) and minimal detail. Slowly, through onomatopoetic, brightly colored, rhyming text, he begins to color himself in with mud. «I’m a dirty dinosaur with a dirty tum./I splatter it with mud and I tap it like a drum./Tap, Tap,/Tap, Tap,/Tap it like a drum!» The watercolor scenery adds to the cute factor of the story, which spreads across extra thick white pages. Eventually, a swamp affords the dino the perfect place for a wash. This book will entertain kids in storytime as well as young independent readers. A solid general purchase for most libraries.