cover image What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive?

What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive?

Mark Lee, illus. by Brian Biggs. Putnam, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5247-4123-5

Business is so slow at Uncle Otto’s used car lot that he declares, “I will sell a car to anyone—or anything—that shows up!” Then dinosaurs descend: improbably hued beasts, sporting multicolored polka dots, who loom over the small, roly-poly humans. “I’m looking for a car,” a stegosaurus says. “What do you recommend?” Uncle Otto is flummoxed, but his plucky niece and nephew, Ava and Mickey, are both dinosaur aficionados and intuitive salespersons. “You like the wind and you’re a fish eater,” Mickey tells a tired pterodactyl before suggesting a convertible so “you can drive to the beach and glide from the cliffs to the ocean.” A T. rex almost stumps—and stomps—them (“Can you really see me driving a minivan?” it booms), but Ava and Mickey find the perfect match: a monster truck. The story ends with more of a thud than a bang, but Lee (Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street) and Biggs (the Frank Einstein series) do succeed in giving families a new road trip game that doesn’t involve screens: What Kind of Dinosaur Would Drive That Car? Ages 3–7. [em]Author’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May) [/em]