Member Reviews
This is a must buy children’s book!!! The story flows lovely, and the illustrations are phenomenal. Every dinosaur loving children or teacher in your life needs this book!
Adorable book for kids. I did not love all of the illustrations, but thought the overall story was adorable.
This story was quick and funny not to mention cleverly written. Definitely engaging for the 4-6 age range. A perfect mix of silly and thoughtful. My only complaint is what seems like quite an abrupt ending. Beautiful silly artwork!
What a lovely read for any child interested in dinosaurs. It was so cute and I loved the illustrations, perfect to expand your imagination. My little ones were giggling at this book. How can I get one to mow my lawn or help open a can? Asking for a friend…
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Dinosaurs are useful creatures! If You Happen to Have a Dinosaurs shows all the ways dinosaurs could help with day-to-day tasks. It talks about how dinosaurs come in different shapes and sizes, making some of them the best and worst for different chores. This book is extra silly, featuring several types of dinosaurs and it mentions other animals. too. I recommend this book for the young dinosaur lovers.
A big 'thank you' to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced read copy of this book!
Linda Bailey writes an adorable and imaginative story of all the ways a dinosaur could be helpful... in case you just happen to have one hanging around your house! My first grade daughter was laughing out loud as we read this book together. Linda's writing in engaging and creative for both kids and their parents alike. As an elementary special education teacher, I know my students would love this book as well! This book would make a great addition to a classroom or school library or to give as a gift for a dinosaur lover.
This is a silly, fun, adorable book which I’m sure my Pre-K students would love for our Dino theme. I did not realize it’s been out for 10 years, but the paperback is being released for the first time in 2025 so I’ve been gifted an ARC of that edition from Netgalley to read and review.
The illustrations are my favorite part-certainly something children will giggle at and make many adults smile at the humor of the situation depicted. The story is similar to a few others I’ve read, among them the timeless “Danny and the Dinosaur” by Syd Hoff, as well as the “How Do Dinosaurs…” series by Jane Yolen. However, the illustrations are quite different from those. It will have children thinking at the very end. After it’s given all kinds of possibilities of what to do with a dinosaur, it asks the question “what do you do with a kangaroo” (might be a good lead in to the book by the same name written by Mercer Mayer!). I’d love to ask the question of my students to see what they would do with a kangaroo (or a dinosaur for that matter!). They always enjoy activities such as that and it’s good to get them talking and brainstorming.
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this new edition. All opinions in this review are my own.
Adorable and silly, while also being a story about what it might be like living with tame dinosaurs, and the many different ways one could integrate them into a family's daily life. It's fun, with whimsical, humorous artwork -- this is a book I would have loved to read when I was young and imagined I wanted to be a paleontologist.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Such a fun book for babies and toddlers! I don't quite get the ending, though. I'm not sure why it just ends with a question about kangaroos. I guess it's setting up for another book? But that's weird for a kids book. 3 stars because of that. Otherwise, I loved this one.
This book was so cute! It reminded me of the If you Give a Mouse a Cookie collection. My daughter is really in to dinosaurs and she loved all the illustrations with so many types of dinosaurs. I would recommend this book to my daughter’s friends who also love dinosaurs and reading!
If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur is an adorable picture book that gives you all sorts of tips on what to do if you have a dinosaur. I loved how zany it was, and the out of the box suggestions. The illustrations are absolutely fantastic, and this would be a huge hit with any young dino fan.
Thanks to NetGalley, Linda Bailey, and Penguin Random House for the chance to read and review. My opinions are my own.
Thank you NetGalley for the complimentary ebook to review this title.
This title explores domestic uses of dinosaurs. It was humorous throughout and will definitely spark little imaginations.
The illustrations were bright and vibrant too.
A quick, fun read that had me giggling. It's perfect for little ones, and the bright, inviting animation made me excited to turn each page.
This is an adorable dinosaur story with fabulous illustrations. Dinosaurs are always a win with my toddler, but we really enjoyed how this story introduces silly and fun and sometimes useful things to do with a dinosaur, if you just happen to have one laying around your house! We’ve already read this several times.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sweet book with lovely illustrations. My Dino loving toddlers, and even elementary aged littles enjoyed
I read this to my children and they ate it up! We absolutely loved it. Very cute and well written. The Illustrations are lovely as well. We can’t wait for it to be published to add on our library.
If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur is filled with funny scenarios that will have children chuckling in no time! You can use a dinosaur as a bookmark, a pillow, a kite, and so much more. It’s a humorous book full of imagination that will make children wonder what they would do with their own personal dinosaurs.
First, I have to give Colin Jack 9834756/5 stars for his illustrations (just looked him up and he's currently a story artist at Dreamworks, neat!). Without the illustrations, the story itself wouldn't have made me smile like a fool at 28 years old.
The silly storyline makes you giggle; the open-ended questions spark conversation. Both the reader and the audience (assuming this is being read by one person, to another person) will end up using their imagination in no time!
I'm definitely going to purchase the paperback edition for my son when he's older, it would be perfect for travel! Hardcover books tear up the inside of my diaper bag sometimes. For friends of mine with kids who won't eat a paperback book, this will make an adorable gift :)
{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Linda Bailey, Colin Jack and publisher Penguin Random House Canada for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}
Cover of book is good and the pictures throughout thd book are well done. I thought this was a very cute book! I read it to my little boy and he loved the illustrations and was excited to see what the dinosaurs were "helping" with!
A super fun picture book about all the different things you could do if you had a dinosaur! Very imaginative with lots of different ideas. Our store already has the hardcover and it's been popular, especially for those who love dinosaurs and/or want a story with some good humour.