Don’t Mix Up My Dinosaur!

Spin the wheel to make some fun dino creations!

The top right corner of this board book has been replaced with a sturdy wheel that can be rotated to help children discover missing parts of the dinosaurs presented (“Don’t mix up my dinosaur! Her horns are rough and rigid.” “Don’t mix up my dinosaur! His club is lumpy and bumpy”). With each new page, readers turn the wheel to find the matching part: a horn with a corrugated texture, a club with raised bumps, a pink furry tail, a sparkly crest, and a tail with a slightly raised texture. It’s an engaging book that children will love—especially dinosaur fanatics—but there are a few stumbles. On the back page, five of the dinosaurs are identified by name, but the dino on the cover (who appears to be a Tyrannosaurus rex) is not included. A thumbnail of each dinosaur in the book is depicted on the back of the wheel, but the placement doesn’t always correspond to the answer. This isn’t a huge issue, but it does mean some extra turning to ensure a correct answer. Some of the vocabulary clues aren’t always exact. The “lumpy and bumpy” Ankylosaurus club looks “shiny and shimmery” like the Parasaurolophus. Though small, these quibbles add up to a few distractions from an otherwise wonderful book.

A flawed presentation but one that will nevertheless please young dinophiles. (Board book. 1-3) —Kirkus Reviews