Today we've got something of a double feature- a book AND a toy. Two great tastes that taste great together, like Shreddies and grape juice. And both of these items give me a chance to finally write about one of my favorite things- dinosaurs! Dinosaurs were awesome, and for years my favorite has been Triceratops. And so my parents, in their wisdom, brought me back this boxed set of cool on a trip.
According to the box, Triceratops Gets Lost was "Carefully reviewed by the Smithsonian Institution", so I'll accept that it's largely accurate, even for having been written in 2003. I know there's been this big kerfuffle as of late about Triceratops having been a juvenile Torosaurus or some such, but I'm not going to touch on that here. The box is nice enough, it's got good colours and info, etc., shows off the product well, you know. I don't even know why i review the boxes at all, unless there's something notable about them. But I digress.
First, let's read the story, so as to get acquainted with our protagonist, Triceratops. The cover features the title, over an image of a young Triceratops walking in a forest. It is apparently also part of a line called "Smithsonian's Prehistoric Pals", which sounds awesome. The inside flap (odd, considering the book doesn't have a dust jacket) gives a brief summary of the story (spoilers!) and some more info on the series.
The book opens on a beautiful Cretaceous morning in a gingko forest. Young Triceratops and his herd are looking for their favorite plants for breakfast. It's not long, however, before he's distracted by two Pachycephalosaurs, fighting for territory. As he watches, he munches on some delicious ferns and the book explains how he is well adapted to do so. But by the time he finishes his meal, he realizes his herd has already moved on without him! Damn, that is COLD. Shouldn't one of the older Triceratops have been keeping an eye on him, considering that he's apparently the ONLY juvenile in the herd? Ah well. In search of the his ingrate family, Triceratops heads into a clearing only to be harassed by some jackass Quetzalcoatlus. Triceratops runs away and the pterosaurs are distracted by something on the ground. What is it? We'll never know, it just says... something they see on the ground. That's it. It was probably the concern that Triceratops' parents apparently no longer have for him.
Triceratops, in his travels, comes across a stream, from which is drinking an apathetic Parasaurolophus, as well as some snakes, frogs and turtles. But no herd yet. Dang. Keep looking, Triceratops!
But walking for this long is tiring for any young dinosaur, and Triceratops finds a shady spot to fall asleep. But just as he's dozing off, a loud thumping sends the local wildlife into a panic. Triceratops looks up and sees... Tyrannosaurus rex! A predator so fearsome I'm not even going to link to Wikipedia for you because you should already know who he is. As the T. rex stares down at Triceratops, the book explains how she is able to balance her huge head with her long tail. She decides that Triceratops would make a fine snack. All hope seems lost. And it is.
Hahaha, no. This isn't Age of Reptiles, after all. Triceratops, like the junior badass he is, prepares to fight the T. rex. That's just plain impressive; the book even points out that Triceratops is way smaller that the T. rex. But then another great rumbling interupts what would surely have been an awesome fight scene. Out of the dust clouds emerges Triceratops' herd, apparently noticing that their hope for the future had been missing for a while. T. rex accepts defeat and stomps off to menace other young unloved dinosaurs.
Triceratops feels safe again with his herd, but all this business has made him hungry! The herd returns to the forest in search of more food. The book ends with a page of basic information about Triceratops and a "Pictorial Glossary"- basically, pictures of all the animals which appeared in the book. The back inside flap details the author, Dawn Bentley, and the illustrator, Karen Carr.
So that's Triceratops Gets Lost. Is it good? Hell yeah! Maybe I'm just overly childlike, but I actually enjoyed reading, and not even in the usual teenager-snickering-at-childrens-literature kind of way. I can only imagine, then, that REAL young dinosaur fans would love this book. It's not very long, but it's entertaining and even a bit educational. The illustrations are bright and colourful without being unrealistic, and look pretty good. All in all, a good book for budding palaeontologists.
But this is a double feature, isn't it? You see, Triceratops Gets Lost also includes a beanbag toy of the book's radical protagonist, Triceratops. It's pretty small, at a little over 20 cm (8 in) from tail to snout. He's got big dark brown eyes and a little round horn... d'awww. It helps that he's covered in that really soft fur they use on some stuffed animals- the kind that's really easy to smooth down or fluff up and it's so damn soft OH MY GOD. You know the stuff I mean. He's got sturdy little legs and he's got just the right amount of pellets in him, not overstuffed but not so few as to be limp. The only problem is that his frill goes wonky really easily, which seems to be a common problem among plush ceratopsians. Nevertheless, it's a well made toy and should definitely appeal to kids through cuteness alone. He's even got a tag with some more facts about Triceratops in it, so the learning NEVER has to stop! I really like this guy. He's little and soft and adorable and he's my new buddy.
Overall, Triceratops Gets Lost is a pretty solid book for young dinosaur fans, and the toy only adds to the appeal. Older dinosaur fans will probably find the book a bit lacking unless they're manchildren like myself, but for it's target audience, this is a well-written book with a well-made toy to go with it.
According to the box, Triceratops Gets Lost was "Carefully reviewed by the Smithsonian Institution", so I'll accept that it's largely accurate, even for having been written in 2003. I know there's been this big kerfuffle as of late about Triceratops having been a juvenile Torosaurus or some such, but I'm not going to touch on that here. The box is nice enough, it's got good colours and info, etc., shows off the product well, you know. I don't even know why i review the boxes at all, unless there's something notable about them. But I digress.
First, let's read the story, so as to get acquainted with our protagonist, Triceratops. The cover features the title, over an image of a young Triceratops walking in a forest. It is apparently also part of a line called "Smithsonian's Prehistoric Pals", which sounds awesome. The inside flap (odd, considering the book doesn't have a dust jacket) gives a brief summary of the story (spoilers!) and some more info on the series.
The book opens on a beautiful Cretaceous morning in a gingko forest. Young Triceratops and his herd are looking for their favorite plants for breakfast. It's not long, however, before he's distracted by two Pachycephalosaurs, fighting for territory. As he watches, he munches on some delicious ferns and the book explains how he is well adapted to do so. But by the time he finishes his meal, he realizes his herd has already moved on without him! Damn, that is COLD. Shouldn't one of the older Triceratops have been keeping an eye on him, considering that he's apparently the ONLY juvenile in the herd? Ah well. In search of the his ingrate family, Triceratops heads into a clearing only to be harassed by some jackass Quetzalcoatlus. Triceratops runs away and the pterosaurs are distracted by something on the ground. What is it? We'll never know, it just says... something they see on the ground. That's it. It was probably the concern that Triceratops' parents apparently no longer have for him.
Triceratops, in his travels, comes across a stream, from which is drinking an apathetic Parasaurolophus, as well as some snakes, frogs and turtles. But no herd yet. Dang. Keep looking, Triceratops!
But walking for this long is tiring for any young dinosaur, and Triceratops finds a shady spot to fall asleep. But just as he's dozing off, a loud thumping sends the local wildlife into a panic. Triceratops looks up and sees... Tyrannosaurus rex! A predator so fearsome I'm not even going to link to Wikipedia for you because you should already know who he is. As the T. rex stares down at Triceratops, the book explains how she is able to balance her huge head with her long tail. She decides that Triceratops would make a fine snack. All hope seems lost. And it is.
Hahaha, no. This isn't Age of Reptiles, after all. Triceratops, like the junior badass he is, prepares to fight the T. rex. That's just plain impressive; the book even points out that Triceratops is way smaller that the T. rex. But then another great rumbling interupts what would surely have been an awesome fight scene. Out of the dust clouds emerges Triceratops' herd, apparently noticing that their hope for the future had been missing for a while. T. rex accepts defeat and stomps off to menace other young unloved dinosaurs.
Triceratops feels safe again with his herd, but all this business has made him hungry! The herd returns to the forest in search of more food. The book ends with a page of basic information about Triceratops and a "Pictorial Glossary"- basically, pictures of all the animals which appeared in the book. The back inside flap details the author, Dawn Bentley, and the illustrator, Karen Carr.
So that's Triceratops Gets Lost. Is it good? Hell yeah! Maybe I'm just overly childlike, but I actually enjoyed reading, and not even in the usual teenager-snickering-at-childrens-literature kind of way. I can only imagine, then, that REAL young dinosaur fans would love this book. It's not very long, but it's entertaining and even a bit educational. The illustrations are bright and colourful without being unrealistic, and look pretty good. All in all, a good book for budding palaeontologists.
But this is a double feature, isn't it? You see, Triceratops Gets Lost also includes a beanbag toy of the book's radical protagonist, Triceratops. It's pretty small, at a little over 20 cm (8 in) from tail to snout. He's got big dark brown eyes and a little round horn... d'awww. It helps that he's covered in that really soft fur they use on some stuffed animals- the kind that's really easy to smooth down or fluff up and it's so damn soft OH MY GOD. You know the stuff I mean. He's got sturdy little legs and he's got just the right amount of pellets in him, not overstuffed but not so few as to be limp. The only problem is that his frill goes wonky really easily, which seems to be a common problem among plush ceratopsians. Nevertheless, it's a well made toy and should definitely appeal to kids through cuteness alone. He's even got a tag with some more facts about Triceratops in it, so the learning NEVER has to stop! I really like this guy. He's little and soft and adorable and he's my new buddy.
Overall, Triceratops Gets Lost is a pretty solid book for young dinosaur fans, and the toy only adds to the appeal. Older dinosaur fans will probably find the book a bit lacking unless they're manchildren like myself, but for it's target audience, this is a well-written book with a well-made toy to go with it.
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