Three Little Words: How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen

Dinner was a disaster! You made such a mess!
Did you stay up past bedtime? The answer was YES!

But when you smiled sweetly and held back your roar,
When you kiss me and hug me, once, twice, even more...

That's when you give love, and I know this is true.
Because that's how a dinosaur says "I Love You!"

In their ninth collaboration in this series, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague once more successfully explore the ways preschoolers try their parents' patience and yet win their hearts all over again.

Kicking the back of the driver's seat, flooding the bathroom as they play in the sink, throwing sand from the sandbox, all those annoying behaviors that try parents' souls are illustrated engagingly by artist Mark Teague in the now familiar style as a variety of moms and dads cope with spilling sippy cups, grumpy awakenings, and missed naps when their offspring show their inner beasts.

What's a parent to do? Well, confront the misdeed squarely, but love the mis-doer, and in this now familiar format, that's what happens in How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? (Blue Sky Press, 2009). But little dinosaurs have their lovable sides, as well, and when all is said and done, "That IS how dinosaurs say "I Love You!"

The various dinosaurs are featured on the book's endpapers, and, as is his custom, Mark Teague also hides the name of each dinosaur within each double-page spread, all ten of them, from Antaretosaurus to Tsintaosaurus, to add to the fun. Good for Valentine's Day and any bedtime night, this latest in their How Do Dinosaurs.... series makes a great pair with Yolen's and Teague's How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?