Sleep-Away Camp: We Are The Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

GOODBYE, ERNESTO! BYE, DEV!

HAVE FUN, LITTLE NESTLINGS!

It seems like only yesterday that they were just hatched!

But now the brave big dinosaurs are wistfully waving goodbye to their little ones, off to the wilds for their first camp experience without their parents. Undaunted, the courageous little chorus sings their song:

OH, WE'RE MARCHING, MARCHING!

WE ARE THE DINOSAURS!

WHADDYA THINK OF THAT?

And it's over the hills and far away with this troop of nestling newbies, off to prove their mettle in the wilds. Dev, Ernesto, Sasha, Olive, and Floyd, decked out with their troop neckerchiefs and knapsacks, head up the country through the prehistoric woods with a brave song.

TROMP, TROMP!

WE MAKE THE EARTH FLAT!

They trek up into the mountains, stopping to munch and crunch when they are in the mood for food. All goes well until, high in the rocky hills, they feel the ground begin to tremble. And then they hear....

RUMBLE!

Boulders rock and roll all around them, and the little scouts decide that maybe they have had enough of the wide open spaces for a while. They reverse course and march, double-time, back toward their home, where their moms and dads anxiously await with big ROARRRS to greet them.

Set to the tune of her popular song, Laurie Berkner's We Are the Dinosaurs (Simon and Schuster, 2017) gives young dinosaur fans a look at the those marching little dinosaurs taking on the trials of the backcountry. There are good times back in prehistory with artist Ben Clayton's clever cartoon characters acting as alter egos for venturing-out young readers, with plenty of opportunities for kids to jump in and sing along. Says School Library Journal, "... a fun choice for preschool storytimes."