I think it’s strange that my son instinctively gravitated to dinosaurs as soon as he turned two. It’s not like we are a dinosaur-centric family– seeing life-sized Jurassic Park at the drive-in theater as a child scarred me for life– so I’m not sure where the fascination comes from. As soon as he saw this book on the shelf at Target, though, he had to have it. I must say, I can’t blame him!
Never Touch a Dinosaur! by Stuart Lynch hits all the right notes to keep a toddler engaged. Each page features a brightly colored dinosaur with a different tactile feature. They’re all rubbery but have various textures, including (soft) spikes, bumps, squiggles, etc. The rhyming text is entertaining as it cautions children to stay away from dinosaurs unless they want to become snacks. (The dinosaurs all look friendly rather than hangry, so I wouldn’t worry too much about scaring sensitive tots.) I also appreciated the perfect length of the story; after a week of reading it every day, I haven’t gotten sick of it yet. Major brownie points!
All in all, I would highly recommend this book to any toddler in your life, especially if they are predisposed to love dinosaurs. It would make a lovely gift bundled with a few dino toys. (The ones pictured here are by Lakeshore and are quite sturdy.) There’s also another similar title in this series: Never Touch a Monster! I’ve seen both at Target, Amazon, and Scholastic.