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A review by wolfiegrrrl
Dino-Baseball by Barry Gott, Lisa Wheeler
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
There isn't much in the way of real plot for this Dino Sports series, but the rhymes are fun.
It's a nice way to introduce different types of dinosaurs to kids who are interested in learning their names. But aside from just listing names, showing basic size differences, and categorizing the dinosaurs as meat-eaters and plant-eaters... it's very surface level.
I can't even say these books are that great at explaining the sports these dinosaurs are participating in. It's pretty clear that this series is for kids who already know the terminology well enough to understand what's happening in the story. Older kids will probably have an easier time of parsing it out, but younger kids are definitely more invested in looking at the pictures and learning whether the meat-eaters or the plant-eaters are going to win this time!
I will say that the concept of this dinosaur fantasy world is fascinating. Poor Dodo is the baseball umpire this time and gets "called a nasty name" during a heated confrontation for his troubles. I wonder why he keeps coming back to this role as the lord of the rule book. Does he get a kick out of watching the dinosaurs struggle through one power play after another? The structure of this society is firmly in his hands. Does he feel a sense of purpose - or perhaps power himself - knowing that the dinosaurs have to obey his word as law during the game? We may never find out!
It's a nice way to introduce different types of dinosaurs to kids who are interested in learning their names. But aside from just listing names, showing basic size differences, and categorizing the dinosaurs as meat-eaters and plant-eaters... it's very surface level.
I can't even say these books are that great at explaining the sports these dinosaurs are participating in. It's pretty clear that this series is for kids who already know the terminology well enough to understand what's happening in the story. Older kids will probably have an easier time of parsing it out, but younger kids are definitely more invested in looking at the pictures and learning whether the meat-eaters or the plant-eaters are going to win this time!
I will say that the concept of this dinosaur fantasy world is fascinating. Poor Dodo is the baseball umpire this time and gets "called a nasty name" during a heated confrontation for his troubles. I wonder why he keeps coming back to this role as the lord of the rule book. Does he get a kick out of watching the dinosaurs struggle through one power play after another? The structure of this society is firmly in his hands. Does he feel a sense of purpose - or perhaps power himself - knowing that the dinosaurs have to obey his word as law during the game? We may never find out!