Books, Lists, Reviews

Magic Mondays – Dinosaurs, Cats, and Smart Girls

While I am at it, why not make the best use of old posts that never saw the light of day (mostly because the only thing I did with them was hit publish! – a big nono and I have learned that slowly; but better late than…., right?). Anyway I picked this specific post as it was right at the same time of the year, post the winter-break in Feb, but a decade ago!; and books about – as the title says – dinosaurs, cats, and smart girls – that are worth sharing and reading.

To Then and Back Again

Flashback To Then

The week off flew by very fast. My son had a mid-year weeklong break at his school and I took a break too so we could take time off for a mini-vacation and spend time. Now the week is over and everything is back to where it was. During and before the break, we read many books and here are the reviews for a few.

Fast Forward To Today

This past week, just like the one years ago, flew by very fast. I did talk about this past week, including our time spent in San Francisco in Sunday’s post here.

Today, we still continue to read about dinosaurs, cats, and smart girls. Though while I read everything from picture books to just about everything, the kids (now teens) do tend to focus on teen and YA books featuring these and other topics.

The Books

Note that these reviews are as they were written in 2011 (with just required edits – typos, formatting, and sections mainly); my little ones (as referred to in the reviews below) are 18 and 15 now!!

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Dinosaurs

Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp

Book Info

Title: Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp
Author: Carol Diggory Shields
Illustrator: Scott Nash
Length: 32 pages
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Dinosaurs(4 – 8 years)
Publisher: Candlewick Press (February 18th 2002)
Source: Home library

What It Is

You thought the dinosaurs are extinct. Well, they are not! They are simply sleeping off their last party – the Dinosaur Stomp. It was a Saturday night when all the dinosaurs went tromping off to dance super dino-dances like the brontosaurus bump. They danced so hard they rocked up an earthquake! Volcanoes provided the fireworks show for their party

Our Thoughts

I have been reading this book for over 4 years now – I first started reading it to my now 8-year-old son who still enjoys it and am now reading it to my 5-year-old little girl. We all love the rhyme and rhythm of this book.

It is a fun-read and one I have not minded reading over and over again all these years (that is a must for parents). We all love getting into the spirit of the book and go stomping and dancing and shouting ‘booma lacka, booma lacka, whack, whack, whack’!

The illustrations are a perfect match for the flowing, entertaining story. This was one book I decided to buy after the first read, as I knew I would be reading it many times again. My son (a dinosaur fan) and my daughter (not really into dinos) both love it.

One other related book that I have read and enjoyed (but do not own) is Dinosaurumpus

Get It Here

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Cats

Clarence the Copy Cat

Book Info

Title: Clarence the Copy Cat
Author: Patricia Lakin
Illustrator: John Manders
Length: 32 pages
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Cats (4 – 8 years)
Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers (October 8th 2002)
Source: Library

What It Is

In short – a cat who will not hurt mice!

Clarence has super-mouser parents and when the restaurant owner finds out Clarence is a peace-loving cat, Clarence is no longer welcome there. As he tries to find a new home with no luck, an old librarian sees him and takes him in.

Clarence loves the library – it is warm, cozy, and best of all, he sees no mice. He makes the copy machine his spot earning him his moniker. All is well until – MICE show up – and his new friend wants him to be a cat. What is he to do? How can he avoid being homeless again? How can he, at the same time, get rid of the mice?

Our Thoughts
My Thoughts

The book teaches sticking to your principles, non-violence, and friendship. The illustrations help the story flow along and I fell in love with the library depicted here.

My Little Ones’ Thoughts

They marveled at how clever Clarence is while wondering why he would not hurt the mice and loved that about him.

Get It Here

 Book Depository || BookShop || IndieBound

and Smart Girls

Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly

Book Info

Title: Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly
Author: Jane O’Connor
Illustrator: Robin Preiss Glasser
Length: 32 pages
Genre: Children’s Fiction/ Multigenerational Family Life (4 – 8 years)
Publisher: HarperCollins  (February 5th 2008)
Source: Home library

Description (from Goodreads)

Fancy Nancy thinks butterflies are simply exquisite. And that is why she can’t wait for her friend Bree’s Butterfly Birthday. It’s going to be the fanciest birthday party ever!

But when Nancy finds out she can’t go because her grandparents’ fiftieth anniversary party is the same day, she is furious. (Mad is way too plain for how she feels.) How Nancy overcomes her disappointment and reconnects with her family is a fun and meaningful story for young readers.

Our Thoughts

Our second Fancy Nancy read and we loved this too.

My Thoughts

In this book, as Nancy helps her friend Bree plan a butterfly themed birthday party, she finds out she has to miss the party, as she has to attend her grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. She is disappointed about this and manages to express that fancily.

However, things change for the flutter (better!) soon and time flutters by before she knows it. She also realizes her mistake and again, family relationships, life as we know it shine through.

As always, with glitter on its cover and fancy vocabulary as well as the beautiful illustrations, I know I am going to read this book again.

My daughter’s thoughts

Butterflies and Fancy Nancy together – I love it. She is convinced that the butterfly that is in the book came up right next to her when we visited the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Get It Here

 Book Depository || BookShop || IndieBound

Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter

Book Info
And Smart Girls: Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter

Title: Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter
Author: Diane Stanley/Jacob Grim
Illustrator: Diane Stanley
Length: 32 pages
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Performing Arts(4 – 8 years)
Publisher: HarperCollins  (May 28th 2002)
Source: Library

What It Is

In short– a charming, modern twist on an age-old fairy tale.

Our Thoughts
My Thoughts

Illustrations that are colorful, bright and manage to convey the feelings in the story comically and a story with strong female characters make this a good read.

[Note: not spoilers as this is part of the book description too.] In this story, Rumpelstiltskin is not the villain! The miller’s daughter chooses him over the greedy king and when their daughter is imprisoned by the king years later in a tale of ‘history repeats itself’, the daughter uses her wits to help the king and his kingdom with great success.

The illustrations do a great job of depicting the greedy king’s lavish lifestyle and you get to see great artwork too on the walls of the palace – including works by Picasso and Van Gogh

My little ones’ thoughts

Both my children (5 and 8) loved the book and the illustrations. My daughter loved it, as it is a little longer than most other books I have read to her and this means more time reading. My son loved the twist in the story having read Rumpelstiltskin and loved how the daughter used her ‘noodle’.

Both loved the illustrations – they laughed aloud at some of the funny pictures.

Get It Here

 Book Depository || BookShop || IndieBound

More books about dinosaurs, cats, and smart girls

This post goes towards It’s Monday, What Are You Reading at TeachMentorTexts.

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Magic Mondays – Dinosaurs, Cats, and Smart Girls

And Now, the End Of This Post

Dear reader, have you read any of the featured books? Or any similar books about dinosaurs, cats, and smart girls??? As always, I eagerly look forward to your thoughts and recommendations; and of course, any suggestions and tips you have about the post itself.

44 thoughts on “Magic Mondays – Dinosaurs, Cats, and Smart Girls

  1. All these books sound fun! Yep, I can see the lure of stomping and 'whack a lacking'!

    I see we have similar interests: travel, recipes, and reading– I'm your first follower!

  2. I don’t think I have read any of the books, but they do sound interesting. I think my favorite is the one about nonviolence and the copy cat. And your ‘booma lacka, booma lacka, whack whack whack’ book reminds me of an Autumn Walk book my son and I used to love.

  3. Thank you so much for sharing these four new-to-me books. I can’t believe I found THREE of them at my local library and the other one I found as a virtual read aloud. Hope you have a fantastic reading week, Vidya!

  4. What fun books! Lia is so into Dinosaurs and she would love the Dinosaur Stomp story and of course Fancy Nancy and her Butterfly is right up her alley! Thanks for sharing these great books!

  5. I love the throwback reviews! I definitely get how just clicking Publish can send posts into the Internet void. All of these books sound delightful, especially Clarence the Copy Cat! Thanks for the wonderful post!

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