Stegothesaurus

by Bridget Heos, T.L. McBeth (Illustrator)

A fun, playful, energetic story starring two stegosauruses and one stegothesaurus about family--and synonyms!--for the young word lover in your home, residence, or abode!

Stegothesaurus's love of language has always put him at odds with his stegosaurus brothers. So when he makes a friend--an allothesaurus---who is just as verbose as he, he is happy, thrilled, and ecstatic! But Stegothesaurus soon learns that the allothesaurus has very different ideas about what constitutes a good meal, and he'll discover there's one thing that he loves more than words: his family.

Featuring clever but simple text from Bridget Heos and bold, exuberant art by T. L. McBeth, Stegothesaurus introduces young readers to a memorable, original, unforgettable dinosaur hero.

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Humor, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Fiction

36 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 2018

Reviews

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! Amusing! Delightful!

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much. Not just because it's clever, funny, and features my favorite dinosaur and emphasizes word nerdiness. But also because there's an allosaurus in the book. And as all Firefly fans will recognize, brings to mind this dialogue from the show:

Wash's Stegosaurus : Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... "This Land.".

'Wash's Allosaurus : I think we should call it "your grave!".

Wash's Stegosaurus : Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

'Wash's Allosaurus : Har har har! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!

[the Allosaurus attacks the Stegosaurus]

Wash's Stegosaurus : Oh, no, God! Oh, dear God in heaven!

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

It's all in the name of this book: Stego-thesaurus! Perfect opportunity to discuss those happy reference books in every home. . . Dictionary & Thesaurus. This sweet surprise for word lovers gives a reader the opportunity to clearly show how to change a narrative by a simple word switch! A writer / reader / storyteller / regular speaker has options! The very clever titular character doesn't hurt a bit . . . he totally sells the author's point!

Illustrations support and carry the potentially dry topic over the top. By the book's end, I had grown very fond of First Stegosaurus and Second Stegosaurus - perfect straightsauruses for the Stegothesaurus. More wordplay awaits the intrepid reader as the book reaches its conclusion.

We loved it, because we love words!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once there were three dinosaurs, two stegosauruses and one stegothesaurus. "Hi," said a stegosaurus. "Hi," said another stegosaurus. "Hello! Greetings! Salutations!" said the stegothesaurus. He was a little different.

What a fun romp of a story that makes for a great introduction to thesauruses or adding stronger words in writing.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brother to two stegosauruses, our eponymous hero - a stegothesaurus - was a word-loving dinosaur, one who never used one description when he could use three. Then one day he met an allosaurus, or rather, an allothesaurus, and the two bonded over their shared loved of words. Until, that is, our hero learned that the allothesaurus gained her vocabulary skills from EATING a stegothesaurus...

I appreciated both the amusing dialogue and the endearing word-love in Stegothesaurus, and got quite a chuckle from the conclusion, in which our dinosaur hero can suddenly only think of one word. The illustrations by T.L. McBeth, who makes his picture-book debut here, are colorful and cute, in a cartoon-like way, and capture the humor of author Bridget Heos' story quite well. Recommended to dinosaur and/or word-loving young children, and to anyone looking for new picture-books with an oddball sense of humor.

[Zeynab · Rating 5 out of 5]

عاشقش شدمممم
برای افزایش دایره لغات و مترادف برای کلمات عالیه عالی. مخصوصا کلاس اول. نمیتونم صبر کنم که برای بچه‌های کلاس اولی ام بخونم

[Maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thesaurus is my all-time favorite book. This adorable story plays on that love of words and unique descriptions. The ending is pretty hilarious!

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read about a stegothesaurus, who knows lots of words, and meets an allothesaurus. (Guess how an allosaurus becomes an allothesaurus.) Perfect ending.

[Katie Butterworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable book! This was a fun story to use to talk to my students about what a thesaurus is and how they can use synonyms just like Stegothesaurus.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really cute little book for synonyms. More than just a book of words, but a story to actually help it make sense.

[Christina Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Advance Reader's Edition | Book Releases June 2018

I am a connoisseur of words and love that I can still learn new ones each day. In my writing life, I search for fanciful, delightful words that I can use to describe the innumerable ways I've enjoyed a book I've read. I count it a challenge to find a new one with each blog I write. Today alone, I learned 3 new words: Logophile, Philologos, and Logomaniac; One who is a lover of words or is obssessed with them. While I would not consider myself to be as extreme as a logomaniac, I do appreciate a book that teaches kids new words. Bridget Heos does a good job of this in her book Stegothesaurus.

Stegothesaurus is one of 3 dinosaur brothers who knows lots of words and uses them to describe everything he sees. One day he meets a "frightening, formidable, fearsome" Allosaurus who knows and uses a lot of big beautiful words too and you'll never guess how she's gained such a robust vocabulary. I am convinced that you will be surprised, amazed, astonished!

I enjoyed Stegothesaurus because learning new words is fun. This book provides a great way to begin a discussion on synonyms and the use of a thesaurus to enrich our vocabularies as readers and writers.

Stegothesaurus

Bridget Heos

[Ms. Arca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I loved this one at the beginning! I thought ahh this would have some great usage in the classroom for super fun mini lesson about word choice!! I hope someone does that with it, the kids will love it. The end was just okiedokie to me, like a cool character and concept that didn’t get taken anywhere much. But. For classroom word choice lessons 2nd-5th grade, this one is solid and should be used!! (5th grader’s would roll their eyes but enjoy it).

[Maria Caplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for me in every way! Love that there is a dinosaur that uses a wealth of vocabulary. Notice the play on the title? I learned three new words and enjoyed the alliteration. Fun surprise ending too. Excellent book to share for word study at any age. Great mentor text 😊

[Baby Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Hello, friends! Our book today is Stegothesaurus, written by Bridget Heos and illustrated by T.L. McBeth, a silly adventure for budding wordsmiths.

Once upon a time, there were two regular stegosauruses and their brother, a stegoTHEsaurus. And while the first two brothers were content with their simple words to describe their world (“big” mountain, “yummy” plants), their brother likes to use his wealth of synonyms instead: “Gargantuan, gigantic, Goliath!”, and “Savory, scrumptious, succulent!”. So when a terrifying Allosaurus sneaks up on their den one night, the first two brothers are quick to run – but Stegothesaurus is so caught up with finding the right words, he is frozen in his tracks! That is until the Allosaurus responds with a collection of words of her own – turns out, she’s an AlloTHEsaurus! Looks like this is the beginning of a lovely friendship… or is it?

This one was a delightful mix of weird, wacky, funny, and sweet. The set-up is the classic story of being the odd one out, a pretty common theme in kidlit, but with a fun vocabulary-driven spin. But from there, it takes some honestly surprising and entertaining turns; I don’t say this often about picture books, but there were some twists in here that I genuinely did not see coming! The art is simple yet enjoyable, using basic shapes and saturated colors to create the characters and their environments, and adding a few bold design elements during the exciting moments. The length was good, and JJ always loves a dinosaur. A marvelous and unexpected tale, and we liked it, enjoyed it, dug it. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Laura Mossa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time, there were three dinosaurs. A stegosaurus, another stegosaurus and a stegothesaurus! While the first two brothers use simple words like big to describe a mountain, their brother Stegothesaurus uses robust words like gargantuan, gigantic, and Goliath. The three brothers’ tranquil day comes to a halt when an allosaurus suddenly startles them. Because Stegothesaurus was thinking of rich vocabulary like frightening and formidable to describe their predator, he was unable to escape with his brothers. Stegothesaurus though soon learns that she isn’t an allosaurus, but rather an allothesaurus. But wait, how did she learn all these so many rich and powerful words? Read to find out!

Stegothesaurus is truly a teacher’s dream picture book. T.L. McBeth’s endearing and adorable drawings of the dinosaur brothers warmly show their range of emotions. Not only will students love the story, but also I cannot think of a better way to teach the power of using synonyms in our oral and written language. What I love about Bridget Heos’ creative story is that Stegothesaurus uses multiple synonyms to describe things so teachers can also introduces shades of meaning. Which word is stronger? Gargantuan, gigantic or Goliath?

Special thanks to Christian Trimmer of Henry Holt Books for Young Readers for sending my #bookexcursion group an advance reader’s copy. Stegothesaurus has a release date of June 2018. Plan for Stegothesaurus Book 2 in Summer 2019.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stegothesaurus by Bridget Heos, illustrated by T. L. McBeth. PICTURE BOOK. Henry Holt and Company, 2018. $18. 9781250134882

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

This is the story about two stegosauruses and one stegothesaurus. When the two say “Hi”, Stegothesaurus says, “Hello! Greetings! Salutations!”, and so the dialogue continues through the book until they meet an allothesaurus. Two run, but the stegothesaurus stays, too busy thinking of synonyms for how he is feeling. The allothesaurus also know a lot of words and they have fun together until Stegothesaurus realizes why Allothesaurus knows so many words.

Funny, clever, engaging, educational - this book is the perfect classroom addition. This book would be brilliant in a writing unit when talking about using more descriptive language. The story itself can hold its own since it has plot and humor and a student would have fun reading this without the connection to writing.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...

[nAeEMak نعیمک]

کتاب‌هایی شبیه این که دارد تلاش می‌کند بهمان یادآوری کند تا تفاوت‌ها را بپذیریم در حوزهٔ کودک زیادتر شدند. در نگاه اول هم این کتاب همان است. یعنی دایناسوری که کلمات بیشتری بلد است و شاید به چشم بقیه عجیب باشد اما چندتا نکته داشت که برای من جالب بود. اول از همه اینکه واقعاً یک قصه داشت و فقط این مفهوم را در یک کتاب کودک نمی‌آورد. یعنی جدا از اینکه بخواهی به زور این مفهوم را یاد بدهی احتمالاً به عنوان یک کودک از این قصهٔ بانمک لذت می‌بری. قصه‌ای که تو را تبدیل به یک دایناسور می‌کند و حتی شاید با خودت برای چیزهایی که می‌خواهی بگویی دنبال کلمات بیشتری هم بگردی. یعنی یک بازی پنهانی در خود کتاب هست. اینکه دایناسور ما خیلی هم متفاوت به چشم نمی‌آید؛ یعنی برخلاف داستان‌های این طوری که شخصیت‌های دیگر در اول داستان پس می‌زنند یا حتی خود خالق به هر حال آن شخصیت را متفاوت می‌بیند اینجا این طوری نیست و دایناسور ما یک جوری هست ولی به چشم بد هم دیگران نمی‌بینند. و یک باحالی بی‌ربط اینکه وقتی دایناسوری دایرهٔ لغاتش بیشتر می‌شود برای من این طوری است که انگار به مرحله تکامل پیشرفت کرده و دایناسورهای بعدی شبیه استگوکلموس می‌شدند.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I knew where this one was heading, it still made me laugh, partly because I could relate to the slightly-different Stegothesaurus but also because of the illustrations, created with graphite pencil and Photoshop. As readers quickly realize, this dinosaur is different from its siblings because he loves words and never uses one when three will do. (I know my friends are nodding their heads that this sounds like me.) Stegosaurus feels a bit odd compared to his brothers, but when an Allothesaurus arrives on the scene, he is sure that he's found his soulmate. They spend the day hanging out and using synonyms with each other until Stegothesaurus asks an important question about the origin of Allothesaurus's vocabulary. This picture book offers an amusing introduction to the delights of synonyms and finding the right word. It's a promising debut for the illustrator.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Squee! Is anything cuter than cartoon dinosaurs spouting synonyms? I think not! Kids and teachers will enjoy the antics of Stegothesaurus, who has three words for every one that his brothers speak. Why describe a mountain as big when you could call it gargantuan, gigantic or Goliath instead? When Stegothesaurus meets an Allothesaurus he thinks he's found a friend who finally understands him...until she reveals a terrifying truth. The muted color pallete compliments the tone of the book perfectly, and the anthropomorphic dinos and unexpected ending will have readers cracking up. An excellent resource for teaching about synonyms, as well.

[Patti · Rating 3 out of 5]

What makes a stegosaurus a stegothesaurus? The amusing, entertaining and silly way he speaks. When his two stegosaurus brothers describe a mountain as big, Stegothesaurus replies that it is “gargantuan, gigantic, Goliath.” As Stegothesaurus and his brothers look for food, he continues his long-winded, chatty and verbose descriptions until the three brothers meet an allosaurus. His two brothers yell “scary” and run away, but Stegothesaurus’s gift for synonyms help him to make a new friend, or so he thinks. A clever, fun and playful introduction to the thesaurus and a great read aloud to share with writers learning to revise their work. Recommended for K-3.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stegothesaurus makes a great storytime read for preschoolers because it emphasizes vocabulary growth through the words of its titular character. Each time the dinosaur's brothers will describe something, they use the most basic word, such as "big". This isn't very exciting to Stegothesaurus though, for he enthusiastically responds with a trio of other options. The repetition soon gets broken with the introduction of another word-loving dinosaur. But all is not as it seems. With the clean art, limited palette of pin and teal, dinosaurs, and delicious choice of words, there is lots to engage kids with.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-1st grade
Books/Reading/Writing: Words

"Hi" says a brother.
"Hi" says another brother.
"Hello! Greetings! Salutations!" says the Stegothesaurus.

And so begins the charming introduction of a stegosaurus who loves words, even meeting up with another dinosaur with a penchant for synonyms. An innocent question with a terrifying answer leaves the stegosaurus speechless, dumbstruck, flummoxed until he can think of only one appropriate word: run! This delightful wordsmith is just asking for a sequel.

[Melia Bents · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinated by synonyms, I was intrigued by this book. I enjoyed the play on words in the title. While the stegothesaurus was odd and different from his two siblings, they learned to accept him and his ability to produce many synonyms for the simple words they used. This book is appropriate for third graders. Before this age, students will have minimal knowledge about synonyms. There was a bit of danger included when Stegothesuarus ran into an Allosaurus, but all conflict was resolved by the end of the book.

[Amber Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a land filled with dinosaurs, I sure am glad that I got to meet Stegothesaurus! Bridget Heos does a brilliant, wonderful, amazing job comparing language and introducing adjectives and vocabulary to young readers in this fun story. My daughter and I laughed as Stegothesaurus worked to find just the right word for each situation, especially when the situations got tough. I would love to see more stories like this!

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hi" says a brother.
"Hi" says another brother.
"Hello! Greetings! Salutations!" says the Stegothesaurus.

And so begins the charming introduction of a stegosaurus who loves words, even meeting up with another dinosaur with a penchant for synonyms. An innocent question with a terrifying answer leaves the stegosaurus speechless, dumbstruck, flummoxed until he can think of only one appropriate word: run! This delightful wordsmith is just asking for a sequel.

[Katie LeDuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very charming especially if you are excited, ecstatic, thrilled about words ;) The storyline is a very clever way of exploring friends and family groups for little kids who might be just beginning in those explorations. Also, from a Youth Librarian perspective, it does a great job using repetition to reinforce what the synonyms mean. It’s a fun book I would absolutely use in one of my story times!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, creative, and funny. I'll admit, I was a little dense and thought it was supposed to be Steg-the-saurus at first. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I only caught on to the fact it was supposed to be Steg-thesaurus about halfway through. Once I caught on, I thought it was very clever and original. It's a great book for teaching kids about synonyms and alliteration in a fun, entertaining way.

[Emily Kono]

This is a story about three stegosaurus brothers, however, one of them is called Stegothesaurus because he loves to use synonyms. Then he meets an allosaurus and is scared at first, but is surprised to learn she loves synonyms too. Then, he discovers she knows so many words because she ate a stegosaurus and he returns to his stegosaurus brothers. This is a great book to teach about synonyms with a fun twist of events.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny book that follows a Stegothesaurus and two Stegosaurus', who are his brothers. It focuses on words and teaches us about synonyms and family. The Stegothesaurus has a very large vocabulary, which tends to get him into a lot of trouble, especially when he meets an Allothesaurus.
The book would be great to use when introducing the word "vocabulary" to children, or for when we talk about synonyms.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stegothesaurus is a little different from his brothers. He knows lots of words and uses them to describe the world around him. So when an Allosaurus pops up, his brothers run but all Stegothesaurus can do is think of words to describe the what his brothers dubbed as “scary.” Is this is end? Swan song? Final roundup?