Dinosaurs

Edwina is a beloved member of her community, often baking cookies to share and playing with neighborhood children. Everyone loves her - except Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, who knows for a fact that dinosaurs are extinct. He won't let it drop - but it turns out the fact isn't a surprise to Edwina. She just doesn't care! ( )

Edwina doesn't know she was extinct and one of the students in the class wants to prove it to her. ( )

This is the adorable story of Edwina, the friendly, beloved, chocolate-chip-cookie-making dinosaur. Everyone in town loves her, except Reginald von Hoobie-Doobie. He tries very hard to convince everyone that dinosaurs are extinct, but no one will listen to him, and he gets more and more upset. Until Edwina listened to him, carefully and respectfully. She finally realized that she was extinct, but didn't care. And he was so grateful that someone had finally listened to him, he felt better and went to her house for chocolate chip cookies. ( )

Edwina is a friendly dinosaur well loved by everyone in town, with one exception -- a little boy who is very upset that no one will listen to his school report on how dinosaurs are extinct. He eventually finds a sympathetic ear in an unlikely source...

Usually I love Mo Williams's books, but this one was a bit odd. The whole conceit is bizarre -- let's remind kids that dinosaurs are actually extinct while simultaneously telling them that's a live dinosaur going about baking cookies for everyone. It seems like too much of a stretch of the imagination, even for children's literature. But that being said, I shared this book with my 5-year-old niece who just loved it and asked to read it over and over again. And I do like the plot of a boy who is angrily set in his ways being won over by kindness. Not my favorite from Williams, but a decent offering. ( )