Book Review: How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

We're still on a dinosaur kick around here.  Actually, when are we not loving dinos?  We have been especially interested in all things large and skeletal and big-print making creatures since spring break a few weeks ago when we drove out to western Mass to see some real dinosaur footprints in situ.  (More about that adventure later!)  For now, suffice it to say it was awesome.  Our museum book this week fit right along with our talks about how things like dinosaurs get to museums and what happens along the way.  So without further ado we present our thoughts on:

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

3-year-old:  My favorite part of the dinosaur going to the museum book was when the guy [security guard] was going to fall over the bones.

5-year-old:  I have wondered at a museum how a dinosaur gets there.  My favorite part was when the dinosaur hunter found the bone.  And that’s it.  What?  Don’t write that!  Mommy:  So next time we go to the museum what are you going to remember about this book?  5-year-old:  Goo-goo.  (Silly giggles.  I include it because he checks on me to make sure I'm writing exactly what he says.)  That they [dinosaur skeletons] were really dug out by the paleontologist.  And it [the diplodocus] was really broken up after it died. 

Mommy:  Like all of Jessie Hartland museum books, this one is a treat!  I learned so much myself reading this with my boys!  Get ready for a longer read than perhaps most preschoolers are used to, but with the repetition my boys stayed engaged.  By the end of the “house that jack built” type expanding and repeating story my boys were filling in the pauses I gave them.  The vocabulary is fun for an adult to read out loud yet the content simple enough—with wonderful illustrations!—that my kids were able to follow along with the process of getting those dino bones to the museum. 

My five year old was so taken with the book that he wanted to read the extra info at the back of the book, but my three year old slid off my lap and started rummaging for another new story to read.  (That’s par the course around here.  Just including that bit as a guide for you checking out this book for your own read or with children.)

(probably best for children 4+)