By Sylvia Cochran - Parenting by the Book
Book Review of “The Megasaurus” by Thomas and Peter Weck
The Megasaurus
Thomas Weck, Peter Weck
Lima Bear Press
Published May 2011
ISBN 978-1-933872-12-4
Age Range: 4 to 12
“The Megasaurus” is the first book in a series that will introduce readers to the magical kingdom of Beandom. Inhabitants look like a mix of beans and teddy bears. Their goals are as simple and straight forward as the goals of their readers: live a happy life and play.
Unfortunately, a dinosaur-like villain wants to eat the Beandom-ites. The king of Beandom relies on his wise advisors to accomplish peace with tribute, brute force or isolation. When none of these solutions pan out, one ordinary citizen steps up to the plate; he devises an intricate ruse to get the villain to leave of its own volition.
Can “The Megasaurus” deliver to a pint-sized audience? While the age range of 12 years might be a bit optimistic, I do believe that preschoolers and younger elementary school-aged children will indeed treasure the book. The monster is just scary enough to ensure a rapt audience, but not so scary as to put the more tender-hearted kids off the read.
The lesson is a good one: even an ordinary person can come up with a great solution -- without having the trappings of an office. By extension, a person with much education should not suffer from the type of pride that hinders him from listening to others.
I specifically liked the suggestions for audience involvement at the end of the book. There is a craft idea, game ideas and also conversation starters. All the way around, “The Megasaurus” is a very nice read that kids will request to have read to them time and again. Parents, make sure to use different voices for the monster and the wise owls! Who knows, the youngsters might get into the act and impersonate one of the characters as well…
