When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach starts off with a little boy who isn’t too happy about having to run errands with his mom. Errands become a whole lot more fun when each one comes with a different dinosaur or two. He can’t believe it, and even tries to get his mom to run a few more errands. But, she's understandably panicking. When they arrive them home things get even more fun. And I didn’t see the end coming.

The cover and title are eye-catching, and I like the way the illustrator has a very kid friendly technique. It's a book that an emerging reader could easily retell just from looking at the pictures. My students cracked up when it mentioned some things that the dinosaurs do at the boy’s house. It's a fun read for kids and dinosaur lovers of all ages. By the end, I was thinking about what it would be like if we really did get a dinosaur with everything. I am guessing things would be a little crazy!

*Reading this to kids is so much fun. All of my K-2 students loved it! They even clapped at the end. ( )

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything Book Review

Introduction: Elise Broach earned an Illinois Monarch award nomination as well as a 2008 ALA Notable Children’s Book for her book, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything.

Summary/Character: A boy and his mom went to run errands one day. Everywhere they went, they found new dinosaurs. The boy convinces his mom to bring all the dinosaurs back home with them where they then became a part of the family. The mom learned to appreciate all that the dinosaurs had to offer.

Theme/Plot: The theme of this book is acceptance. Throughout the book, the boy and all of the business owners were very accepting of the dinosaurs, whereas the mom was not.

Quotes: “Pretty soon, my mom had thought of chores for all of my dinosaurs. But I knew they didn’t mind. It just meant they were part of the family.” (pg. 31). This was said by the little boy at the end of the story. He was happy that his mom finally learned to accept that the dinosaurs were going to be a part of their lives.

Overall Recommendation: This book is a good book for learning about acceptance and the differences of others. It would fit well in an elementary school classroom library as well as a personal library at home. ( )

I might have given this to T.E.

Your students may imagine themselves living in this very positive story and use their creativity to decide what they would do. This is such a cute story with great illustrations.

Funny realistic fictional story, about a boy and his Mom, taking the day to do errands to surprisingly learn that "real dinosaurs literally come with everything!" (doughnuts, haircuts, visits to the dentist, etc.). Fantastic illustrations in charcoal with remarkable expressions in people's faces, and painted in water colors.