Ty Rex Rules: Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

STEGOSAURUS STACKS.

TRICERATOPS ERECTS.

GALLIMIMUS BUILDS...

All the preschoolers are on task, playing well with others. Until, OH, HECK!...

TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS!

Ty is big and brash, a blunderbuss of a classmate, who stomps into the scene and kicks the supports out from under Stego's careful construction. The little builders are knocked back on their heels in dismay.

At the art table, another circle of youngsters is engrossed in their creations. Little Apatosaurus is coloring her picture; Velociraptor sprinkles a finishing touch  of glitter on his painting, while Pteranodon watches.  Here comes Ty and... (You guessed it!) crayons and paints fly!

TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS!

Another student thinks it's safe to practice his cursive on the chalkboard. Ty grabs an eraser and wipes it all away.

Now Teacher has to step in with Ty's marching orders: NO! GO!

Ty goes to a well-earned time-out and his little classmates are quietly relieved. The classroom is quiet.

But not as quiet as Ty's time-out room. He gets bored, then miserable. Finally, he feels bad about the way he has behaved. Can he start this day all over again?

Even a typhoon of a Tyrannosaurus gets a second chance to have a good day, as Ty makes amends and the story ends with a surprise group giggle for everyone, in Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen's latest, Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! (Abrams Books, 2014). Illustrator Zacharias Ohora paces the paging action perfectly with Bardhan-Quillan's rhyming quatrains, and his cheery preschool classroom contrasts well with his young tempest of a tyrannosaurus, who finally figures out that his more mature classmates are more into making something than demolishing stuff.

For hard-core dino fans, the endpapers offer drawings and name of all the dinos, including even the bit players in this story. Author Bardhan-Quallen makes great use of the old T. Rex pun in funny verses at which emergent readers will enjoy trying their hands at reading aloud. Pair this one with the Caldecott-winning Aaron Reynolds' new Here Comes Destructosaurus! or one of Bob Shea's Dinosaur sagas, such as Dinosaur vs. the Potty (Board Book).