By Jared Chapman
Chronicle Books, 2018
Picture book, 44 pages, ages 3-5
Two T. rexes chase a time traveler (who wasn’t much meat), follow their noses into his empty time machine, and accidentally get transported to the future. Turns out, the future is pretty awesome (“The food comes to us!”) … until it isn’t.
Warning: this riotous dinosaur-time travel story may bring on a case of the munchies.
The first time I read this book, I was sitting alone in the children’s section of the library on an itty-bitty kiddie chair laughing my head off. Loudly. There might have been weird looks from the librarian and the other kids. Yes, T. Rex Time Machine is that funny.
This is one of those books that doesn’t have a strong message or teach a lesson. It’s just a really great story stuffed to the gills with humor. Arranged in panels, a simplified comic book layout, it’s a good first step into independent reading. Or a story that might entice a reluctant reader.
Will kids love this? Absolutely. Especially if they love dinosaurs, absurd humor, word play, and food – burgers, pizza, tacos, cake… Adults will think it’s pretty great too. (This one did.)
This is the first of two T. Rex Time Machine books – and the second, T. Rex Time Machine: Dinos in De-Nile, might be even better. I wish there were more than just two. Highly, highly recommended.
T. Rex Time Machine by Jared Chapman gets 5 stars from this reviewer.