Thursday 7 August 2014

The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past by Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter and Garry Parsons (Random House Children's Books)


The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past

Written by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter

Illustrated by Garry Parsons

Published by Random House

History is history! Time travelling is unravelling like a badly wound reel of loo paper as Danny and the Dinosaur take a trip back in time for the latest book from talented music and wordsmiths Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, and poo-tastic illustrative talent Garry Parsons.

After a tummy-twisting dinner at Granny's house (picked out wonderfully in shades of grim green by Garry Parsons) Danny and Dinosaur hop into the garden to work off those catastrophic calories. Spotting a swing hanging from a tree, Danny and Dinosaur swing higher and higher until something completely crazy happens - the swing propels them back in time, past the Ancient Egyptians, through Ancient Greece and right back to prehistoric times.

Alas, the poor swing can't take the weight of a sprout-and-spinach-filled dinosaur and Danny, and promptly snaps, stranding our hapless heroes in the past with only three awesome little dinosaur dudes for company.

Is there absolutely ANY WAY a pooping dinosaur (and his three little buddies) can save the day and fix history itself?

We'll have to let you find out the answer yourself on August the 14th as another smasher from the McFly Boys and Garry Parsons (who by now has SURELY earned himself an honorary position in the band, can you play the tambourine or anything Garry?)

I got quite grumpy about these books, after all there's only so much poo a man can take in children's books before he explodes rather like that dinosaur's back end has a habit of doing. But what do I know? Charlotte absolutely loves these books and really truly loved this one (perhaps because she'd just come back from Grandma's house and a rather unfortunate incident with overcooked raw leaf spinach herself!)

At times they take their cues from the wrigglesome rhymes of Dr Seuss and at other times they're just a fantastic belly laugh. Above all we reached the rather pongy end of the book with two things in mind. 1) When's the next one coming, chaps? and 2) Can I wash my hands now?

Fantastic! In the words of a certain other famous McFly "It might be a bit much for you, but your kids are going to love it!"


Charlotte's best bit: Snorting and giggling at a rather grim description of ancient greeks and egyptians getting a mouthful of granny's lasagne poo!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliant fun for tiddlers, beautifully illustrated and told

(Kindly sent to us for review by Random House Children's Books)