Review: Never Show a T-Rex a Book by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Diane Ewen
Diane Ewen's illustrations, bursting with vibrancy, alternating perspectives and well-observed detail, are a joy to behold. They complement Rashmi Sirdeshpande's sharply comedic commentary perfectly, boding well for this new creative team.
In homage to all librarians, many pages are adorned with piles of borrowed books from every genre imaginable. A lot of care has gone into selecting book titles that amplify seldom seen ethnicities in picture books — references to Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean cultures, including a Mary Seacole history book, are particularly heartwarming.
Delightful grown-up jokes are thrown in, too, including a subtle nod to the opening of Pandora's box and a tongue-in-cheek comment about having as many interesting cultural attractions Up North as in London.
Amid the fantasy, there's impressive authenticity. Ewen knows how to draw Black children, for example, the little girl's voluminous natural Afro consists of black and brown tones, thick and fine strands, and tight and wavy curls, ensuring her beautiful hair matches her endearing carefree personality.
Indeed, females are foregrounded throughout. From the get-go, there's a Black girl protagonist and a female dino companion but also, during their imaginary play, both females occupy male-dominated roles: prime minister, architect, astronaut, scientist. Traditional power structures are radically shaken up — there's even a Black Mona Lisa (although the decision to give her straightened hair is a curious one). Reading this story will increase children's self-belief that they can become anything or anyone they'd like.
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| Author Rashmi Sirdeshpande |
The layers of meaning in the intricate illustrations offer inference and prediction opportunities for early readers in reception. Children will delight in re-reading the story to make deeper discoveries in the pictures, inferring new details not covered in the text (CAL). Using the text as a stimulus, lots of dinosaur-based imaginative and creative play could occur (EAD). Children may also want to talk about jobs they'd like to do, or they might be inspired to draw what they’d change if they were a leader for one day (PSD/UW). There may even be scope for writing instructions/posters for looking after a pet. (CAL/PSD). There's a hint to the girl’s next exciting escapade at the end which children will guess by using the picture cue. Again, this could lead to creative/imaginative activities about monster adventures in space. (EAD/UW)
This hilarious multilayered picture book is bursting at the seams with joyful mayhem. It's the perfect choice to engage early readers and ignite their passion for reading while encouraging them to let their imaginations run wild!
However, beyond all the fun and in light of cutbacks to library services, there's a serious message about the crucial role books play in shaping the minds of young readers, broadening their horizons, and giving them a taste of the tantalising opportunities the world has to offer. For this, our libraries should be eternally treasured.
Guide for teachers and parents
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Genre |
Narrative: stories with familiar settings (with an element of fantasy) |
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Child-led interests (EYFS) |
dinosaurs, space,
creative/imaginative play, writing, drawing, pets, books/reading |
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Age group (EYFS, KS1, KS2) |
EYFS |
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Curriculum links/topics
(EYFS/NC) |
EYFS: CAL PSED EAD UW |
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Suitability |
whole-class teaching; class/school
library; storytime; home library |
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General features |
some instructional
and persuasive language; some repetition; use of bold and capitalised text; illustrations
integral to the story and add layers of meaning |
All the Black children's books that I review are checked against my Jericho Benchmark.
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