Picture Book Wednesday: Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Barry Gott

It's the meat eaters vs. the plant eaters at - of course - Jurassic Park, in this rhyming tale of a baseball game.

First, the not-so-good: the pictures are a little crowded, and more thought should have been given to the centerfold - many figures are cut in half and distorted because of it. Some of the abbreviated dinosaur names could be confusing if you are not familiar with the basic dinosaurs and missed the team rosters on the second page. And of course, when it's carnivors vs. herbivors, you know who is going to pull through in the end to win.

The good: a child who is obsessed with dinosaurs will enjoy the business of the pictures, stopping to check out and identify each type. Gott managed to make cute, cartoony dinosaurs without losing the particular characteristics of each species that set them apart. The rhyme scheme is good, and we liked the way the names were in colored print. Great vocabulary, strong verbs - "plucks", "dashes", "chomps", "hustles" - and plenty of baseball lingo. And while, yes, the vegetarians win, the meat-eaters aren't portrayed as the bad guys, as in some other books (good news for those of us who like to munch on the occasional goldfish).

Great for: read-alouds, youngsters who like dinosaurs or baseball.

We give it a 4 out of 5

Review copy provided by publisher. If you click on the picture link to order your own copy, we receive a small portion of the proceeds for our library.