Dinosaurs, Beware! A Safety Guide

by Marc Brown, Stephen Krensky

Approximately sixty safety tips are demonstrated by dinosaurs in situations at home, during meals, camping, in the car, and in other familiar places.

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 1984

About the author

Marc Tolon Brown is perhaps best known for his series of children's books about Arthur the aardvark, which was turned into an animated television show on PBS. Brown is a three-time Emmy Award winner, for his role on the television show inspired by his books.

He lives on Martha's Vineyard and in New York City with his wife, Laurie Krasny Brown. He has three children, sons Tolon and Tucker, and daughter Eliza. The names of his two sons have been hidden in all of the Arthur books except for one: Arthur's Tooth.

Reviews

[Tamara the Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be pretty boring. It includes a bunch of safety rules for a wide variety of situations-- yet doesn't say kids should wear a helmet when riding a bike!! The rules are all stated in declarative sentences-- there is nothing interesting about how it is written and I feel there are too many rules for a kid to remember them all. The pics are decent.

[Jonathan Schildbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few other reviewers have noted this is pretty outdated as it was published in 1982 but is still floating around. I think maybe the outdatedness could be used to ask kids questions about what additional safety steps they could take compared to what is going on in the pictures. The illustrations are colorful and silly, and I can imagine kids enjoying them and getting some good lessons out of them. Other than that, the text is basically just a lot of 'always do x'or 'never do y' safety tips, which isn't really catchy, but I guess that's the point --driving home simple ideas with fun illustrations.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

We got a huge cache of the missus's childhood books from the in-laws. Many of them are excellent, many of them are classics, and then there's some really weird ones like this. Bebe's asked me to read it to her multiple times already though so that counts for something.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid and it actually taught me a lot about safety! I still remember some of the stuff in here.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

More DON’Ts than telling what they should do.

[Mari]

it reads a little boring if just as text, but the illustrations can be entertaining.

[Radhika · Rating 5 out of 5]

SM - I like when the dinosaurs did wrong stuff. I learned not to touch poisonous plants.
VM - I liked how the dinosaurs did funny things.

[Ting Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinosaurs Beware appropriates was written by Marc Brown and Stephen Krensky. It suitables to use for the ages range 3 to 8. This is an awesome and interesting book for kids to read. Dinosaurs Beware has funny images of dinosaurs and profound philosophy about safety rules. This book is cute, but the meaning of the stories are very important. It even influences the children’s future behavior unconsciously with their witty plots. Demonstrated by dinosaurs in situations at home, in the yard, during meals, camping, in the car, at the beach, playground, on wheels, and in other familiar places. It also includes the safety guide with animals, on short trips, in cold weather, and giving first aid. It helps kids about safety in different situations such as safety rules if something happens on a camping trip, water emergencies to car safety, and what to do in case of a fire. The illustrations are humorous but serious. Children usually like reading picture books. It strengthens their memories and more easily helps them to relate the safety guide to their life.

[Brigid Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Dinosaurs Beware!: A Safety Guide," by Stephen Krensky, is a quirkily illustrated and very dated book about safety, featuring dinosaurs.

My child picked this book at random off the library shelf and I brought it home without looking at it very closely. Once I got a better look at it, I realized I had this book as a kid. It was an alright book in the early 1980s, but it's VERY out of date now. As another reviewer points out, it's a safety book, but dinosaurs aren't shown wearing helmets or other protective gear while on their bikes, skateboards, etc. The technology and clothing are also dated. While the illustrations are a bit humorous, the text is prescriptive and pretty boring.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of "safety first" stories for children can be a bit tedious and condescending. This is a very straightforward look at what you should and should not do in a variety of situations to keep yourself safe.

The best part is that all the shoulds and shouldn'ts are cleverly illustrated using dinosaurs. Asher (5 years old) loved it.

[Jeniann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little book about safety for kids with very amusing illustrations. It made me laugh but makes some great points.

[Cws]

JEDINO-Kre

[Jacqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favourite books as a kid. There is something about dinosaurs that makes safety that much more appealing. You gotta read it just to see the dinosaur with his nose stuck in a tree.

[Sébastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has entertaining illustrations of possible accidental mishaps. It has a good amount of details in different contexts without being overwhelming for younger children's attention span.