Prehistoric Reads for All Ages
When I was growing up you were either a Flintstones or a Jetsons fan, and as someone who has always been obsessed with the past and anything vintage, not surprisingly, I fell on the stone-age side of things. I wished we could trade in our Subaru for a foot-powered car a la Fred Flinstone, and I totally wanted to exchange my cat for a pet dinosaur after seeing Dino. (The closest I came were the chewable vitamins, which were delicious btw.) If your young reader is also obsessed with dinosaurs and ancient times, these caveman-themed books will be right up their alley. So let’s travel back, wayyy back with these prehistoric reads. Yabba Dabba Doo!
How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends?, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
This book about dinosaur friendship will ring true for humans as well! Another adorable picture book by the powerhouse team of Yolen and Teague, How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends? tackles interpersonal relationships in a fun way. Sharing, fighting, hugging, and making up, these dinosaurs teach some lessons that are good to remember at all ages. (But of course, in a fun way that doesn’t feel didactic.) Perfect to read aloud with your own little T. Rex! (Ages 3-5)
Dinosaurs Love Underpants, by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort
“It all began when caveman felt embarrassed in the nude. So someone dreamed up underpants to stop them from looking crude.” And so the great Underpants War begins! Ever wonder why the dinosaurs went extinct? Sure, paleontologists have their “theories”, but if you want to entertain a more fun (and certainly more funny) scenario, check out this delightful picture book! (Ages 3-7)
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1), by Mary Pope Osborne
The book that started it all! If siblings Jack and Annie only knew the adventures that tree house would lead them on! The first book in this bestselling series takes tour intrepid explorers from a tree house in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania to the time of the triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex. For any kid who’s ever read a book about dinosaurs and wished they could actually go back and see what it was like in prehistoric times, this is wish fulfillment at its most fun. (Ages 6-8)
The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Caveman from the Future, by Dav Pilkey
If your young reader can’t get enough Captain Underpants, this fun graphic novel by Dav Pilkey is the perfect solution! Ook and Gluk are time-traveling cave kids from the year 500,001 BC who wind up all the way in the year 2222 AD. Throw in a pet dinosaur, some kung fu lessons, and an evil futuristic boss who wants to plunder all of the natural resources, and you have a story that you have to read to believe. If this sounds silly, it is, and that’s part of what makes these books so addictive and popular. (Ages 7-10)
Oona Finds an Egg (The Oodlethunks #1), by Adele Griffin, art by Mike Wu
In the first book of this funny series by Adele Griffin, with delightful illustrations by Mike Wu, we meet Oona Oodlethunk and her brother Bonk from West Woggle. (These names alone are worth the read!) One day Oona finds a mysterious egg. But what’s inside? Will her wish of having a pet of her own come true, or will someone else get their hands on her egg before it hatches? You’ll have a blast finding out for yourself, and luckily there’s a second Oodlethunk book on the horizon. (Ages 8-12)
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