Dinosaur Pie

By Author / Illustrator

Jen Wallace, Alan O'Rourke

Genre

Representation & Inclusion

Age range(s)

Publisher

Little Island

ISBN

9781915071491

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

18-04-2024

Synopsis

It wasn't really Rory's mum's fault. She just bought Dinosaur Pie for a change and gave it to Rory for his dinner. The next morning, he was a dinosaur. Not dressed up as a dinosaur - actually a dinosaur. His friend Daria suggests: 'Like, you could totally pretend to be cosplaying a dinosaur. Like, that's funny, a dinosaur playing a human cosplaying a dinosaur.' It's not all that funny really. Rory can't talk. (That's because he's a dinosaur.) And he can't bear the thought of eating an apple. All he wants to eat is sausages. It doesn't wear off. The supermarket that sold the pie doesn't want to know. The doctor isn't all that helpful. What are they going to do?

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Reviews

Rory is having a weird week. A really weird week. He has been turned into a ridiculous, small, feathered dinosaur. Pretty awkward. Rory can't use a human toilet. He can't hold a video game controller in his little dino claws. His breath smells really bad. And his new carnivore body can't stop craving sausages. Rory finally gets his friends to take his embarrassing situation seriously, and together they embark on Operation Make Rory Human Again. But it's not easy.

Jen Wallace has used her knowledge and expertise on neurodiversity to enhance her wonderfully humorous story which will capture the imagination of many young chapter book readers. The themes in Dinosaur Pie of friendship, teamwork and problem-solving is something that every reader will be able to identify with - and many readers will have found themselves wondering what it would have been like to be a dinosaur!

The font has been carefully chosen to ensure that it is not overwhelming for a young reader and the black and white images punctuate the text beautifully, adding important details and allowing the momentum of the adventure to maintain an appropriate pace. In school, this text could would be enjoyed as a shared reading book or for group study. It would be an asset to any library as a reading for pleasure book.

Neurodiversity is such an important topic and this book works hard to ensure that it adds important knowledge to aid pupils to gain understanding whilst enjoying the narrative. I look forward to reading more of Jen Wallace's stories and poems.

176 pages / Reviewed by Amanda Shipton, teacher