A little girl finds a lost dinosaur baby roaming the halls of a museum and is determined to give it a home in this sweet and charming picture book.
Penny feels certain that something is following her down the hall as she walks with her class through the Natural History Museum. She looks—nothing. She looks again—still nothing. She looks one more time and spies a verrrrry long neck and a verrrrry long tail on something that looks suspiciously like a baby brontosaurus!
Penny might be only five, but she knows dinosaurs are extinct. And yet, one seems to be following her. The little dino and Penny spend time together all over the museum, and when Penny doesn’t see a giant adult dinosaur lumbering around, she realizes Pip—as she’s named him—must be on his own. The only thing to do is to feed him some snacks and take him home with her…if she can figure out how.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-1665913317 Ages 4-8
Keywords: museum, dinosaur, African American and Black stories, Black Girl books, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old
*********
“I met you in a cave, you were painting buffalo
I said I'd be your slave, follow wherever you go
That night we split a rattlesnake and danced beneath the stars
You fell asleep, I stayed awake and watched the passing cars
And walked a dinosaur, I walked a dinosaur
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur”
– Was Not Was (1988)
“Penny ate a triangle of her hummus sandwich.
She ate two spoonfuls of blueberry yogurt.
She ate one carrot, one grape, and none of her cheese crackers.
‘You’re a good eater,’ Penny whispered to the baby.
‘URRRP!’ went the baby.
‘You’re a good burper, too,’ added Penny.
‘Pip, pip,’ squeaked the baby.
Penny smiled. ‘Is that your name? Are you Pip? I’m Penny.’
‘Pip, pip,’ went the baby.
‘Nice to meet you too,’ said Penny.”
When Penny visits the natural history museum on a class field trip, she’s in the right place at the right time. Unbeknownst to teachers and fellow classmates, she watches in total amazement as a dinosaur egg in an exhibit shutters, cracks open, and sends forth a cute-as-can-be baby brontosaurus. After the pair make eye contact and bond, the baby scales the exhibit enclosure and follows the young girl through the museum. When it’s lunchtime, the baby shares her lunch.
I especially love the post-lunch illustration in which the adoring/adorable baby, cheese cracker crumbs spilling from its mouth, sets its front legs upon Penny’s knee, just the way you envision a grateful, loving dog or a cat being attentive to its person.
But what will happen when it’s time to leave? Uh-oh. Pip is too big for Penny’s pocket and backpack. But clever Penny devises a truly wonderful plan leading to her dream come true. The open-ended happy-ever-after conclusion will leave audiences wondering about what is real, and daydreaming about the possibilities.
Eric Rohmann’s digitally-colored, black colored pencil illustrations bring the two new friends to life in a manner that dispels any doubts about how real Pip is. At least to Penny’s eyes.
PENNY & PIP is magical and hopeful and endearing. A total joy of a read. When you share this at circle time with the threes- and fours-, you best warn parents that they might need to prepare a trip to the nearest natural history museum.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
See more of Richie's Picks <http://richiespicks.com/> http://richiespicks.pbworks.co
