June 11, 2018
North (Romeo and/or Juliet) and Lowery (Random Illustrated Facts) give T. rex a fresh twist by asking what the toothy theropod can teach children about harnessing great power for good. Brown-skinned Sal wishes she was a T. rex, but a visual accounting shows that she just isn’t, at least right now: “Teeth: okay, could be pointier.” “Body: Tiny, often ignored.” With hilarious ease, Sal soon turns into a tyrannosaur merely by sitting up in bed at night and concentrating. Now she tastes power: “No door can hold you! You can eat whatever you want!” But living as a T. rex among humans demands compromise. “They don’t like it when you eat their food.” Is it possible to maintain a dinosaur-style sense of one’s own awesomeness and live with other humans? It is, Sal learns. “I don’t let people ignore me or push me around, but I’m careful not to stomp on any humans.” Lowery’s unsteady lettering and goofy human figures with bean-shaped noses contribute to the book’s laughs and help keep its stay-strong lesson from descending into sentimentality. Ages 4–8.
January 1, 2019
Asked by her teacher what she wants to be when she grows up, young black girl Sal replies she wants to become a Tyrannosaurus rex--and she does. Being a T. rex is as awesome as Sal thought it would be, but she learns that her T. rex ways are not always welcomed by her human loved ones. Amusing, comics-style illustrations are sure to spur the imaginations of young aspiring dinos.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from July 15, 2018
A feisty girl learns to merge the awesome parts of being a T. Rex with the great parts of being human, inspiring friends and her mean big brother to do the same.It all starts when Sal's teacher asks the students what they want to be when they grow up. Clad in a T. Rex shirt and shoes, Sal's answer is a Tyrannosaurus rex, "because obviously." Sal offers some amazing facts about T. Rexes, like their awesome teeth and constant roaring, contrasted with sad facts about Sals, including a "tiny, often ignored" body. Sal's brother says it's impossible for her to be a T. Rex, but she is determined. She does become a T. Rex, and she finds that it's "amazing!" Her guide to being a T. Rex includes: "Be super fierce," "don't be afraid of anything," and "do whatever you want all the time!" But she discovers that humans aren't fond of T. Rex behavior, and after all, there are a few aspects of being human that she misses. So she figures out how to be "an ultimate dino/human hybrid" who is "tough yet kind" and "awesome yet approachable," with super strength "inside and out" and an "amazing roar." Brown-skinned Sal is engaging from Page 1, and the comic-style drawings and hand-lettering make her story as dynamic as she is. Readers will enjoy her antics and topsy-turvy relationships again and again.Hilarious, emotionally poignant, and just a little bit sassy. (Picture book. 3-8)
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