** ROWE, Jeanette Rex the Tyrannosaurus ISBN 9781743310083 Tracy the Pterodactyl  ISBN 9781743310151 Bruce the
  Brachiosaurus ISBN 978174310144 Tip the Triceratops ISBN 9781743310113 (Dinosauritis: Catch the Dinosaur Bug)
  Allen & Unwin, 2012 unpaged $12.99

If you know a preschool-aged boy, then you are probably familiar with dinosauritis, an affliction which has children everywhere addicted to dinosaurs.

 Dinosauritis: Catch the Bug is a non-fiction series suitable for 2-4 year olds. The illustrations feature Jeanette Rowe’s trademark vibrant colours, cute dinosaurs and favourite vehicles. The information is presented in a way which the youngest children will relate to, for example: a triceratops was ‘bigger than ten rhinos all glued together’. There is plenty of childish silliness, such as ‘pterodactyls do love children, but only with sauce!’ 

Each book has an activity page: Rex has a maze, Tracy has match-the-shadow, Tip has spot-the-difference and my favourite is Bruce, with a simple snakes and ladders style game. The joke pages may not be as funny to a preschooler as the fun facts: A single poo from a brachiosaurus was the size of a small car. A fun series for budding dinosaur fans.

** COMBE, Peter(text) MCDONALD, Danielle (illus.) Wash Your Face in Orange Juice Scholastic, 2012 Unpaged $16.99 ISBN 9781741699616

 Prepare for extreme silliness! This brightly coloured book comes with a cd containing 3 Peter Combe songs. His greatest hit, Wash Your Face in Orange Juice is followed up by Stuck in a Pizza. The third song is the ever-popular Spaghetti Bolognaise.

The fun illustrations complement the crazy lyrics of Peter Combe’s catchy songs and will appeal to preschool aged children. The only drawback I found with this book and cd set is that the choruses are repeated in the songs but not in the book. Following the song requires flipping backwards and forwards to the correct page. Despite this, the book is a great resource for preschool and kindergarten teachers who like the students to bellyflop in a pizza. Bellyflop in a pizza? Eeew!

**Balarinji (illus.) MORIARTY, Ros (text) Ten Scared Fish Allen & Unwin, 2012 Unpaged $12.99 ISBN 9781742379128

**Balarinji (illus.) MORIARTY, Ros (text) Kangaroos Hop Allen & Unwin, 2012 Unpaged $12.99 ISBN 9781742379159

 Ten Scared Fish is a fun number book. Using the time-tested pattern of threes, this book brings an element of surprise into a simple story, which will have preschoolers and toddlers giggling along. 

Beginning with 1 turtle by the waterhole, 2 turtles by the waterhole, 3 turtles by the waterhole and a snake...the story follows the river to the sea, ending with a shark and 10 scared fish. In addition to the satisfying story, a text is repeated at the end in Yanyuwa, an Aboriginal language.

The bright illustrations are in aboriginal style, using unlikely colour combinations, such as lime and maroon. The fresh turquoise cover is appealing and the observant child will even spot the shadow of a shark. This is a counting book to enjoy reading countless times.

Kangaroos Hop is an action book, which describes the movements of Australian animals. Butterflies dance and echidnas shuffle until they reach the riverbank where a crocodile is sleeping. Although this book doesn’t have the dramatic climax of Ten Scared Fish, it still has the brilliant aboriginal art and the translated version. It is perfect for a preschool or kindergarten class
to dramatise.

**HEAD, Mat Warduff and the Corncob Caper Koala Books, 2011 unpaged $14.99 ISBN 9780864619532

This is a loud, fun book about Warduff, a cool cat who ‘out-sly’s a fox and saves his friends. 

When Warduff gets the distress call from his farmyard friends, he isn’t flustered. “Keep your feathers on,” he says, with the dry humour which typifies both the story and pictures. Inspired by a corncob, of all things, Warduff calmly executes his plan, creating the highlight of the book: the monstrous Gronklenork. 
 
This story gives the reader the basic satisfaction of seeing a bully scared. The language used makes it a pleasure to read again and again, with funny details to be found in the pictures.

What I particularly enjoyed about this book was the unusual colours, such as avocado green, warm custard yellow and dusty mauve. There are no standard primary colours here! The title page explains that Mat Head has hand drawn in black and white line, scanned, coloured and then rendered in Photoshop.

 This story is simple enough for 2-5 year olds, but the humour  extends the age range to the 6-8 year olds. Good fun.