Furthermore, what I especially liked was the incorporation of the protagonist as a BAME character, interestingly in a 'normal' setting and not used to highlight differences or discrimination.

Many of the words are substituted for images, which makes for a very engaging reading experience with a little one. If you didn't look at the cover art, you'd probably think it was some little white boy, based on my description.Which made it even funnier that it still fitted in the living room on the couch while she was thinking about it. I really enjoy these "if I had a [blank]" books, and I ESPECIALLY like that my top three (this one, If I Had a Raptor, and If I Had a Gryphon) have little girls of color dreaming of non-traditional pets.

The pacing is great, the vocabulary is age appropriate and the illustrations are bright, appealing and full of little details so each time you read the story there are new things to spot.

With playful illustrations, If I Had a Dinosaur is a charming, witty, rhyming story celebrating the power of a child’s imagination.

He giggles his way through the pages and always wants to know which dinosaur on the last page was the one responsible for the big surprise (no spoilers) earlier in the story. As another reviewer pointed out, this book is great except for the three small illustrations of Asian children that are unsettling. Taking inspiration from one of David Attenborough's BBC documentaries, Dawnay uses rhyme, humour and the excitement of having a very strange pet to create this picturebook. A unique story with unique illustrations, If I Had a Dinosaur it tells a fun story about a little girl who dreams of getting a very big pet! But as they walk around the museum, all Dave wants to know is wherther these dinosaurs are really dead.HOWEVER, the way that Asian children are portrayed in this book is absolutely appalling and disqualifying.

Looking again at this book, I'm reminded of the Cousin Chin-Kee character from American Born Chinese. I was really surprised to come to GoodReads and see the negative ratings, and was horrified that I hadn't noticed the racist illustrations, but it appears my copy has been updated - thank goodness! Gabby Dawnay's rhyming text and Alex Barrow's simple yet evocative illustrations combine beautifully. A little girl wishes ever so desperately that she could have a pet, but she's unsure about what kind of pet she would like.One content warning: there is an entire spread devoted to the question of how to clean dino-sized droppings with an unsubtle depiction of such (think the poop emoji with no face).