2 stars
A dinosaur-themed retelling or Romeo and Juliet? Sign me up.
I was pretty excited when I saw this at the library. It looked like a fun read. But when I finally read it, I was a bit underwhelmed.
The story itself is a fun take on the original story, simplified for children and with herbivores and carnivores instead of the confusing family feud. But the real question is, who is this book for? While it say it’s meant for 4-8 year olds, I don’t think most kids in that age-range would know the story or Romeo and Juliet well enough to really get the references in this. You could make the argument that you don’t need to know the story to read this one, which is fair, but besides that, this one just felt kind of wordy to me. It was a creative twist, but it felt too long and a bit forced by the end.
Honestly, this one was heading toward 3-ish stars because I think kids like anything dinosaur and parents could enjoy the retelling, but I could have done without the ending. The main story ended fine, but then the final twist knocked it down a star for me personally. Okay read overall, but dino retelling-wise, I preferred Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs.