Guess Who Coming to Dinner? Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner! by Gareth Edwards

NEVER ASK A DINOSAUR TO DINNER.

BECAUSE A T. REX IS FEROCIOUS
AND HIS MANNERS ARE ATROCIOUS!

A dino for dinner is more than able to eat it all, even the table.

And while you're brushing your teeth after supper, don't be too generous with that toothbrush if there's a shark at hand. He's got way too many teeth. And don't share the bathroom sink with a beaver! He won't be able to resist the flowing water, and you'll find yourself with a beaver dam flooding the premises.

PLEASE DON'T LET A BARN OWL IN YOUR BED.

BECAUSE THE FIRST THING YOU'LL LEARN'LL

BE THAT A BARN OWL IS NOCTURNAL!

In his debut American picture book, Gareth Edwards' Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner (Scholastic Press, 2015) recounts in rollicking rhyme all the critters a kid should not invite in before bedtime. A tiger makes a grumpy towel, a bison is too bulky to be a blanket, and, oh, yeah ... they don't call them night owls for nothin'!

Edwards fearlessly finds plenty of multi-syllabic rhyming words that double as vocabulary builders, and noted English illustrator Guy Parker-Rees' exuberant cartoons add just the right touch of absurdity to make this a silly and sybilant tale a great sleepytime readaloud. And don't worry that the humorous sight gags will get the kids out of the bedtime mode, because Edwards and Parker-Rees bring it on home in a timely fashion, with a cozy closing involving a super-soporific Teddy bear and a flock of sedate sheep to count just in time for lights out!