Tyrannousaurus Wrecks by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen with great illustrations by Zachariah Ohora is an awesomely colorful, dinosaur filled wreck of a book. Well, the book isn't actually a wreck, but Tyrannosaurus makes a mess wherever he goes in the classroom.
Like all the best dinosaur picture books, Tyrannousaurus Wrecks uses the endpapers to identify and give phonetic pronunciations for all the dinosaurs appearing on the pages inside. We parents thank you heartily for knowing that little listeners love to learn the names of the dinosaurs.
The plot of Tyrannousaurus Wrecks is pretty straightforward. Apatosaurus colors, Pteradon inspects, Velociraptor glitters but . . . Tyrannosaurus wrecks. I love how Ohora shows Tyrannosaurus's head peeking out from the corner of the illustrations, the slant of his eyebrow showing that he's ready to make trouble.
After several wrecks (where is the teacher?) everyone is very fed up and the tell Tyrannosaurus so in no uncertain terms, ordering him to GO. Finally feeling the weight of his actions, Tyrannosaurus, with his tiny hands tucked in the pockets of his cargo shorts, looks pretty sad. He decides to make amends, tidying up everything that he has previously destroyed, but mishaps follow him, no matter what his intentions. His classmates are forgiving, this time, and help him to get up and going again. Just in time for a fantastic (accidental) wreck as he carries the snack tray filled with tiny, red edibles, and WRECKS!
Don't miss Zachariah Ohora's excellent book, Stop Snoring, Bernard! about an otter who loves his home and loves his neighbors, but just can't find a place to sleep and keep from bothering everyone else.