Excuse Me, Are You a T-Rex?
illustrated by Clare Elsom
Scholastic

Rather than a case of ‘Look out, he’s behind you, this is an instance of ‘Look out, it is you.’

Soon after a little dinosaur emerges from its egg, it meets a host of other tiny dinosaurs all huddled together. “Have you heard? There’s a T-Rex in town!” shouts one. Unlike most of the other little dinos. this one is not scared at all. Rather, it embarks on endeavouring to find this bus sized creature with its vicious jaws and claws.

How to go about this is not difficult; it merely requires asking anyone and everyone you meet: “Excuse me, are you a T-Rex?” This question is directed first at what we discover is a Chindesaurus.

Having asked almost a dozen others politely,

including one standing atop an enormous pile of poop,

and journeyed through millions of years, our determined little dinosaur still hasn’t met that which it seeks.
Why could that possibly be, I wonder.

In my experience, small humans can never have too many dinosaur books. Using a narrative non-fiction mode this one is cleverly and amusingly done, with delicious dino. expressions and timelines, and will surely appeal to young children. A fun read aloud that gently informs.