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How Do Dinosaurs...?

How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors?

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The bestselling, award-winning team of Yolen and Teague present their third original dinosaur board book, a fun read-aloud that teaches children all the colors of the rainbow. Dinosaur colors start with red fire truck stuck under the bed,A purple towel left on the floor,A green sign taped to the closet door,The third board book by the bestselling, award-winning duo Jane Yolen and Mark Teague focuses on one of the most fun concepts learned in colors. Packed with vibrant illustrations of dinosaurs drawing, painting, and playing, this book will captivate and inspire children as they learn their colors.

12 pages, Board Book

First published September 1, 2006

6 people are currently reading
402 people want to read

About the author

Jane Yolen

972 books3,238 followers
Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

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5 stars
271 (31%)
4 stars
271 (31%)
3 stars
260 (30%)
2 stars
52 (6%)
1 star
8 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
Profile Image for Daniel.
203 reviews
October 26, 2009
Easily the best book I've read about how dinosaurs learn their colors.
156 reviews2 followers
April 11, 2017
My son was bored by it and fell asleep just a few pages in. I, on the other hands, was enthralled. So many twists, and what an ending! (No spoilers, I promise)

In other news, I've found a way to "reach" my 50-book goal for 2017
Profile Image for Skylar Burris.
Author 20 books279 followers
December 14, 2008
They're really milking How Do Dinosaurs Clean Up Their Rooms for everything it's worth. This is cute, but it is not the most useful book for learning colors I have encountered. For that purpose, I've yet to find anything that beats Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
50 reviews
April 18, 2018
What I liked about this book is, unlike in the counting book How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten, the concept that the reader is supposed to learn is made very clear through the text and the illustrations. The text references the colored object on the page, but the name of the color is also printed in that color, so students know what they are looking for and can make those important connections between the name of the color, the color itself, and what it looks like on an object. I think a fun activity to do with this book would be to read it aloud in class and then give students little sticky notes with a name and color on them, and then have the students stick it to something in the classroom that is that color. I would be and effective way to apply the information in the book, and it would get students up and moving. I would use this book in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
Profile Image for Slayermel.
906 reviews36 followers
February 23, 2018
My daughter brought this one home from the school library as one of her home reading books.
It's a board book with colourful pictures of different dinosaurs doing things with different colours.
The spelling of the colours is actually written in the colour itself, which was great for her to try and read a little more independently.

Great book for children who also enjoy dinosaurs as it had a few different species in it.

Profile Image for Sarahs Reads ToKids.
479 reviews2 followers
February 23, 2020
How Do Dinosaurs books are a fun series of books for your dinosaur loving young reader. The rhyming text, variety of dinosaurs, and the classic illustration of the parents make this a fun book to read. Quite a few of these books have had my husband and I laughing out loud or remembering a time the exact same thing has happened in our home.
Profile Image for Rachel Guy.
78 reviews8 followers
February 13, 2021
Children love dinosaurs and they'll love this book showing dinosaurs in the kinds of places children go: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen table, etc. as well as teach children their colors: e.g. "red fire truck", "purple towel", "green sign". To top it off, this book has a lovely rhyming scheme as well which will make it fun to read to children over and over again!
Profile Image for Andrés.
1,542 reviews
October 15, 2024
This is a departure from the standard "How do Dinosaurs" books, which usually describe doing things the "wrong" way for the first half, then describe things the "right" way for the second half. There is no right or wrong way to learn colors, so the dinosaurs just march through the ROYGBPs (out of order), plus white, black, and a rainbow to wrap things up.
Profile Image for Kate M. Colby.
Author 19 books76 followers
December 12, 2025
Jack borrowed this book from the Canal Winchester Library. I picked it because he loves this series. This is one of the board books, and it is clear that Jack is outgrowing them. He liked the dinosaurs and especially the fire truck at the beginning, but he knows his colors and kind of lost interest after that.
Profile Image for Eva_Amaré.
191 reviews6 followers
March 16, 2019
If the purpose of this book is to teach us colours, it's not doing a very good job. Now on the other hand, if the purpose of this book is to introduce us to new and really cool dinosaurs, then job very well done. 👍👍
Profile Image for Anna.
2,443 reviews15 followers
January 1, 2026
I loved how it rhymed. Very clever way of using orange, as you can't rhyme anything with orange, but Jane makes it work! I again appreciate the name of the type of dinosaur next to the dinosaur's illustration. This book is a great start to colors, especially if you love dinosaurs.
Profile Image for Kristen.
950 reviews
May 21, 2021
Cute pictures, but the color examples were so small in some of them. May or may not get for Baby Girl.
Profile Image for Janice.
2,195 reviews2 followers
June 11, 2021
Dinosaurs learn their colors around the house. Would have been better if in English also for those beginning learners.
Profile Image for KaitandMaddie.
4,266 reviews13 followers
June 7, 2022
Maddie picked this from the library and read it to Kait and I.
Profile Image for Tanya Ouellette.
50 reviews
August 5, 2022
Wonderful book for children. The inclusion of the dinosaurs was really well thought out.
Profile Image for Ginger.
5 reviews
August 9, 2022
Another “How do Dinosaurs…” hit with all 3 of my kids. Another cute board book memorized…
Profile Image for Brianna Shrout.
368 reviews24 followers
June 25, 2024
Cute way to teach both colors and some dinosaurs! I loved how the focus was more on the colors and the dinosaurs were secondary. Will definitely be a reread!
Profile Image for Wendy.
1,041 reviews22 followers
May 27, 2025
I adore Jane Yolen. I adore her books.
Our SPED kids weren't too impressed. But I liked it.
Profile Image for Courtney.
63 reviews5 followers
March 12, 2013
This color book involves dinosaurs and includes ten common colors. I love that this is a board book, that it incorporates dinosaurs, and the rhyming. However, this book could definitely use some changes.

For being a color book, the colors are not very evident on the pages. The first page reads, "Dinosaur colors start with red: A red fire truck tucked under the bed," and the only red on the page is the word "red" and a small fire truck way on the left side of the book. The entire page is taken up by a tyrannosaurus rex laying down. The next page reads "a purple towel left on the floor," and the only purple on the page is the word "purple" and the towel. I think children will have a hard time seeing which color is which solely by looking at the pictures.

I feel that there are better color books and better dinosaur books so I wouldn't recommend this particular book to anyone.
Profile Image for The Badger.
672 reviews26 followers
September 7, 2016
I love these dinosaur books. When I have "book-dates" with younger students for good behavior, I may possibly maybe sort of kind of lead them towards either the dinosaur books or the Skippy John Jones books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews

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