Ask people their top five favorite topics as a kid, and you are likely to find dinosaurs on most lists. There’s something intriguing about these dragon-like animals from long ago and the storytelling opportunities that they present for young imaginations.
Author and illustrator James D. Robinson has taken this popular topic and turned it into both an educational and adventure story with his book, Dickie the Dinosaur and His Best Pal Dot. Check out my review of Dickie the Dinosaur as well as my interview with Robinson below!
Dickie the Dinosaur plot synopsis
Dickie, a large but gentle dinosaur, and his best friend, Dot, a flying reptile, live in a wide, tree-covered, waterfilled valley. One day, a volcano erupts nearby, causing the dinosaurs in the area to flee. Dickie and Dot help some of the smaller animals to safety before they end up stranded on a hill with no food or water.
However, the animals work together and utilize their individual strengths to create food and water sources until the lava cools and they can migrate to another land. Between Dot’s resourcefulness and gift of flight and Dickie’s size and willingness to help, the group is saved and are able to build a new life in a new land.
The story
Dickie the Dinosaur is a story about teamwork with dinosaur facts weaved through it. Author James D. Robinson exhibits his knowledge about these prehistoric animals by demonstrating different species sizes and strengths as well as the terrain in which they live.
That terrain is truly terrifying with lots of hurdles and challenges from deep water to melting lava to hungry predators. The group of dinosaurs featured in the story are mainly herbivores and omnivores that travel in a tight pack that works to their benefit.
The characters
The characters in this story are all animals with very human dialogue and personalities. They exhibit kindness, a sense of humor, and even frustration about their predicament. But it also helps to bring them to life and help you root for them as they maneuver through their life-or-death conflict.
Dickie and Dot are the obvious heroes of the story. It is Dot’s planning and Dickie’s execution of that plan that encourages the group to work together, thereby saving everyone’s lives. It’s a typical message for a kids book but also one that doesn’t hurt to remind readers about.
The illustrations
The illustrations, also by Robinson, are detailed and colorful. Each image is spread over two pages with details that run off both pages, depicting the movement and scope of this land.
Multiple dinosaurs are featured from multiple angles on each page. They have distinct textures, patterns, and color palettes to help differentiate them as not only distinct species but individuals.
Robinson then inserts photographic backgrounds containing realistic land, water, and clouds to help give the book an authentic setting that encompasses all of Earth’s past and present traits. Some sections are very lush and idyllic while others come across as dangerous and sinister. But they all depict interesting shadows, movements, and brilliant habitats.
Early on, Robinson also inserts modern-day images, such as homes, and silhouettes of people to help to highlight Dickie’s size. However, I feel like these early images feel out of place and set up the story to be more informational than fictional.
The text and formatting
The 24-page picture book features a few long sentences on at least one page of each spread. Some pages contain more, particularly those with a lot of dialogue.
The tone mixes both seriousness and playfulness, adventure and friendship, and fact and fiction. Some of the dialogue reads a bit old fashioned, but young readers should be able to understand the humor and tone that is coming through.
The scary and adventurous elements make it more suited to older school-aged readers. This age group will also be more capable of reading the book and understanding the vocabulary themselves. They will also better appreciate the last two pages which list dinosaur facts.
My recommendation
I recommend Dickie the Dinosaur and His Best Pal Dot to dinosaur enthusiasts, kids who love nature and adventure stories, and parents who like fun books with an important message woven throughout. Kids will love taking the knowledge they’ve learned and sharing it with others while at the same time being entertained by a story about one of childhood’s most universal passions.
My rating
An interview with James D. Robinson
What was your favorite dinosaur growing up?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a favourite. I tend to like all prehistoric animals across the board. That is to say, across all prehistoric eras.
How did you develop this story? Did you outline it or just write as you go? Did it end up different from the way it started out?
Once I get an idea for a story, I tend to start typing, and then I try to extend the opening in what I feel is a logical progression. For the dinosaur book, I knew that at the time of their existence there was a lot of volcanic activity and climate change, so I used that knowledge to kickstart the book. The plot did not change once I started writing.
What advice do you have about writing a children’s book?
If it’s a picture book, then obviously you want the illustrations to have a real impact with the text highlighting what the images are trying to convey. If it’s an all text story, or mainly so, I go with the logical progression concept. Sometimes one idea can spark another and then I follow that. But people should plough their own furrows.
You illustrated the book as well. What is your background in art? How did you decide on the style of the illustrations?
I’m not a trained artist. I’ve just drawn since childhood – although I did study traditional B/W photographic printing and portrait photography at a local technical college, many, many years ago.
For the dinosaur book, I took photos of dinosaur models for reference as I have a sizable collection of same. I then created digital paintings of a landscape for the backgrounds (using the paint box that comes with Windows 7) then drew and coloured each of the animals and plants separately, keeping their backgrounds empty. They were then scanned and uploaded to photoshop where the backgrounds were made transparent.
The animals and plants could then be overlaid on the landscapes in any position I wanted. A graphics system called Xara Designer Pro 7 is what I always use to create the digital files for my books and their covers, from scratch.
Do you have a favorite page?
No.
Why do you think kids are so obsessed with dinosaurs?
I think kids in general like any kind of monster looking creature. So, the large, fearsome looking dinosaurs fit the bill to perfection.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?
I would hope they thought it was worth their time reading it and enjoyed what the read. I don’t think kids would pick up on the concept of helping each other out when times are bad. I think that would come when they are older.
Will we see more of Dickie and Dot in future books?
Maybe. It will depend on how well the current book is received and what other things I am working on in times to come. I already have a number of projects ongoing, and there’s no way of knowing how long new projects will take to complete, if indeed, they are carried that far. But I like to keep my mind active, and I hardly ever get bored. So, it’s a possibility.
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