An interesting combination and I love the opportunity for critical and creative thinking involved in Dinos Driving by Lynn Leitch and Scot Ritchie.

In Dinos Driving, Lynn Leitch pairs a few different dinosaurs with their ideal vehicles. T-Rex driving a monster truck? Definitely. Triceratops on a motorcycle? What else would they drive? It’s a really cute story that dinosaur enthusiasts will love.

Throughout the book, readers have an opportunity to look at each dinosaur and their chosen preferred vehicle and make inferences as to why each dinosaur had chosen each particular vehicle. This allows readers to use their critical thinking skills and also provides the opportunity to extend the thinking to other dinosaurs not included in the book. What about a maiasaura, what would they drive? Readers may also make connections between this book and the popular television series Dinosaur Train. Also, Lynn Leitch provides a short, one sentence bit of information at the end of the book to provide some clues for the readers. There is also a handy parent’s guide at the end to help extend the story beyond the preschool years.

Another amazing decision by Lynn Leitch is to include the pronoun, she for the dinosaur at the end of the book. Have you noticed how most dinosaurs are gendered with he/him pronouns in a lot of stories? For so long, an interest in dinosaurs has been attributed to boys when we all well know that ALL children are fascinated with these incredible prehistoric animals. This very subtle element in the story brings all children into the fun of learning about dinosaurs.

Scot Ritchie’s illustrations are whimsical and fun. I love the movement on each page, signaling which dinosaurs like to go fast and which prefer a slower pace. Children will have a good laugh seeing how the different dinosaurs navigate driving their vehicles.