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Dinner Time
Flies, a frog, vulture, gorilla, tiger, crocodile and shark--what do they all have in common? Dinnertime! Each smaller creature is eaten by the next largest creature. Guess who has the biggest feast of all. Readers will get a laugh out of this wacky epicurean delight. Full color.
6 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
1 person is currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Jan Pieńkowski
221 books49 followersJan Michel Pieńkowski is a Polish-born British illustrator and author of children's books. He is probably best known for his Meg and Mog books with writer Helen Nicoll and for his pop-up books, including Haunted House (winner of the 1980 Kate Greenaway Medal), Robot, Dinner Time, Good Night and seventeen others.
Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge.
After leaving university Pieńkowski founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in his spare time, but soon found the work taking over all his time. He began working with children's author Joan Aiken in 1968; he later won the first of two Kate Greenaway Medals in 1972 for his illustrations for Aiken's The Kingdom Under the Sea.
Pieńkowski has had a life-long interest in stage design. He was commissioned to provide designs for Theatre de Complicite, Beauty and the Beast for the Royal Ballet, and Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris.
In 2005 Pienkowski contracted a civil partnership with David Walser, with whom he has been in a relationship for over forty years.
Pienkowski suffers from bipolar disorder.
Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge.
After leaving university Pieńkowski founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in his spare time, but soon found the work taking over all his time. He began working with children's author Joan Aiken in 1968; he later won the first of two Kate Greenaway Medals in 1972 for his illustrations for Aiken's The Kingdom Under the Sea.
Pieńkowski has had a life-long interest in stage design. He was commissioned to provide designs for Theatre de Complicite, Beauty and the Beast for the Royal Ballet, and Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris.
In 2005 Pienkowski contracted a civil partnership with David Walser, with whom he has been in a relationship for over forty years.
Pienkowski suffers from bipolar disorder.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 15, 2013
Quite simply one of the best pop books we have ever owned. My children loved it and now my grandchildren love it. The pop ups of the animals are a big and bright surprise on every page. Little children are delighted again and again - our favourites the crocodile and the gorilla!
March 9, 2020
Animals get hungry too! In this ravenous picture book readers follow a dinner menu up the jungle food chain as one animal eats another from one page to the next. Each hungry creature eats the last before winding on their own way into the jungle and meeting the next predator who greets them and gobbles them. All but the last apex predator, who chooses to eat without conversation!
The best thing about this book is that all of the mouths move as each creatures snaps up some dinner. If the reader flaps a page they will chew. Readers will enjoy identifying the animals as they flip from page to page and learn how the law of the jungle works. The critters are all bright and comical to keep the scare factor down to a minimum. Read this book with a plate of cookies on the side table.
*Mild violence
The best thing about this book is that all of the mouths move as each creatures snaps up some dinner. If the reader flaps a page they will chew. Readers will enjoy identifying the animals as they flip from page to page and learn how the law of the jungle works. The critters are all bright and comical to keep the scare factor down to a minimum. Read this book with a plate of cookies on the side table.
*Mild violence
November 2, 2011
Since our story times include babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers we often begin our presentations with pop-up books to capture their attention. This gem of the food chain genre was perfect for this week's Midnight Snack Attack theme.
We invited children to make the sounds of the featured critters which include a frog (ribbit), a vulture (caw?), a gorilla (chest thumping), a tiger (roar), a crocodile (snap while extending arms to imitate jaws and clapping hands as jaws shut), and a shark (JAWS theme music).
We invited children to make the sounds of the featured critters which include a frog (ribbit), a vulture (caw?), a gorilla (chest thumping), a tiger (roar), a crocodile (snap while extending arms to imitate jaws and clapping hands as jaws shut), and a shark (JAWS theme music).
January 30, 2018
One of my favorite pop-ups makes a great puppet story too.
January 19, 2020
Classic! For a children's pop-up book, it's really great. I can still remember back when I was still four or five giggling due to excitement and shivering due to fear because this book can be morbid for the first look but fun on the second and succeeding reads. Not to mention, it introduced me to the concept of predator-prey relationships.
April 27, 2011
Gnam!
È un mini-libricino pop-up, di quelli coi disegni che escono letteralmente fuori dalla pagine.
Qui a uscir dal libro son le mandibole dei 6 animali protagonisti di una fulminea rappresentazione della catena alimentare. Testo inesistente, ma mascelle masticanti simpatiche! L'ho comprato anni fa per regalarlo a un cuginettolo, ma alla fine l'ho tenuto: ogni tanto lo sfoglio e mi sento scema, ma come si fa resistere al rumorino che fanno le mandibole del coccodrillo e della rana mentre si muovono le pagine? :p
Qui c'è il sito dell'autore: http://www.janpienkowski.com/
È un mini-libricino pop-up, di quelli coi disegni che escono letteralmente fuori dalla pagine.
Qui a uscir dal libro son le mandibole dei 6 animali protagonisti di una fulminea rappresentazione della catena alimentare. Testo inesistente, ma mascelle masticanti simpatiche! L'ho comprato anni fa per regalarlo a un cuginettolo, ma alla fine l'ho tenuto: ogni tanto lo sfoglio e mi sento scema, ma come si fa resistere al rumorino che fanno le mandibole del coccodrillo e della rana mentre si muovono le pagine? :p
Qui c'è il sito dell'autore: http://www.janpienkowski.com/
August 9, 2011
Monster + Pop-up = Happy Small People.
December 9, 2015
Funny. Probably funnier if you're five.
May 19, 2019
Fabulous! My son’s favorite at the age of two.
May 17, 2023
Good, splotchy illustrations and the sculptural pop-outs were simple yet very very lifelike (and threatening too, when they chewed). The text itself could have been 25% more interesting though.
March 1, 2023
Another book I recently retrieved from my parents’ house. “Dinner Time” was my first ever book-fair purchase. I was probably in kindergarten or first grade; the day was gray and overcast, and after getting home from school I read the book in our family room while listening to the rain outside.
The story is straightforward: an animal, it’s face depicted in the middle of a double-page spread, is eaten by the animal on the next double-page spread. They’re all painted in a mixture of dripped and splattered ink, which gives them an organic, wild texture. Best of all, “Dinner Time” is a pop up book, so each animal’s maw opens and shuts along with the pages.
At least, it used to. My copy is 40 years old and almost all the mouths are missing (just like my old man teeth!). The only mouth left is the gorilla’s, which shuts with a satisfying cardboard “clack” if you start to close the book and then reopen it again just right. My son kept looking at the book after we read it, then fell asleep with it under his arm.
The story is straightforward: an animal, it’s face depicted in the middle of a double-page spread, is eaten by the animal on the next double-page spread. They’re all painted in a mixture of dripped and splattered ink, which gives them an organic, wild texture. Best of all, “Dinner Time” is a pop up book, so each animal’s maw opens and shuts along with the pages.
At least, it used to. My copy is 40 years old and almost all the mouths are missing (just like my old man teeth!). The only mouth left is the gorilla’s, which shuts with a satisfying cardboard “clack” if you start to close the book and then reopen it again just right. My son kept looking at the book after we read it, then fell asleep with it under his arm.
March 3, 2014
I loved the pop outs of this book. They were so cute and made me laugh. I thought it was funny how each animal ate the other, and they got bigger and bigger each page I turned. This book didn't have any storyline, just that they ate each other, which is why I think the title is appropriate. I thought this was a fun book and that kids would really enjoy reading it.
December 17, 2015
I remember reading and loving this book a lot as a child, but I'm not such a fan as an adult. My mom just sent me our old copy and you can tell it's well loved as most of the pop-ups are repaired with tape. It's a little macabre and not biologically accurate, but if my sisters and I are any indication, kids love it.
December 2, 2014
This is such a cute, simple, CUTE pop-up book! It's a fun, silly way to break down the food chain for children. I loved how moving the pages made the animals' mouths open and close as if they were talking or chomping down on their meal. So adorable and creative!
June 25, 2008
I love pop-up books!
Read
March 9, 2010Hora de Cenar
May 20, 2011
Very cute pop up book. I loved this when I was little and so do my kids.
September 27, 2012
very cute book i recommend it to anyone
October 21, 2012
What?!? Is this book rated R? It's about a bunch of animals eating each other! Disturbing. Maybe I should have taken a clue from the blood-splattered cover.
The pop-ups were cool, though.
The pop-ups were cool, though.
July 2, 2014
Animals eat one another in the food chain. Simple but fun pop-ups
January 28, 2015
jan's illustrations and pop ups are colorful and vivid. i loved this book so much as a toddler. it teaches you about the food chain in a fun way. spoiler: in the end, the shark eats them all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2015
8 year old says 1 star, she read it to her 4 year old brother, he said "14 stars"
April 13, 2015
8 year old says 1 star, she read it to her 4 year old brother, he said "14 stars"
May 2, 2016
Great food chain story-could be scary to some little ones.
June 6, 2021
I love these pop ups, they're so much fun. I love how it says "The creatures portrayed within are no reflection on any real animals, living or dead."
January 28, 2015
I consider it a collectors item.
December 8, 2015
8 year old says 1 star, she read it to her 4 year old brother, he said "14 stars"
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews