What the Dinosaurs Did at School: Another Messy Adventure

The Tumas’ plastic toy dinosaurs are at it again; previously seen in 2015’s What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night, they’re now busy wreaking havoc at school. As the creatures make their way through the building, the Tumas stage photographed scenes of the dinos covered with feathers and paint in the art room, wielding paper swords in the library, and embroiled in a spaghetti-laden cafeteria food fight, among other scenarios. The compositions are excellent, the props adorable (tiny lab coats in the science room, a mop-turned-wig for a T. rex), and the hyperbolic narration sustains a fever pitch (“If your teacher find dinosaurs running wild in her classroom, she’ll put them in the drawer of no return”). But it’s not quite enough to prevent a sense of sameness from setting in as the story moves from mess to mess. Ages 4–8. Agent: Kristyn Keene and Liz Farrell, ICM. (June)