How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?

Jane Yolen
illustrated by Mark Teague
Scholastic February 2003 0-439-24100-6 $15.95
40 pages 9 x 12 Ages 2 and up

When I was small, the prospect of swallowing a spoonful of medicine scared my tongue. I screwed up my face so much that it was in danger of turning inside out. It was doubtful that something that tasted so dreadful could ever make me feel better. I entirely sympathize with the Tropeognathus who spits his pills into the sink. Jane Yolen and Mark Teague have conspired to construct a delightful get well card in How do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? for any little one who has ever been stuck in bed with the sniffles. It is a land filled with coughing, sneezing, and feverish dinosaurs with colossal funny noses.
          Dinosaurs, who are a bit under the weather, spit out medicine, toss off covers and clamp jaws closed to a brave doctor who has climbed a ladder to check on tonsils. They are being so silly. At the same time they perfectly portray the attitude a child might possess towards being sick. And they, too, are watched after by human parents.
          At the turn of each page we are greeted by a dinosaur that eclipses the illustration. The Diplodocus is so large that parts of his neck and tail are outside of the drawing. Even though the dinosaurs appear to be enormous, they somehow snuggle right into the familiar childhood settings. The scientific name of each dinosaur is considerately hidden within the pictures. Of course, this is for the benefit of the grown-ups. Everyone knows that any six-year-old can tell you the name of every dinosaur that ever lived.
          With the comfort of a lollipop at the end of a visit to the doctor the dinosaurs become model patients. They drink their juice, take their medicine and get lots of rest. Superb advice for anyone who might not be feeling quite right. This adorable “tail” will have you sipping chicken soup and passing the tissues…after all, who doesn't love a Carnotaurus with a cold?

-Lisa Regehr

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