** 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.

**HUME, Lachie Banjo Bounces Back Omnibus Book for Scholastic Australia, 2012 Unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9781862918467

What should a horse do when he falls down? Bounce back, of course!

Banjo is a star hoofball player for his team, the Whinnies. Every day he practices with his best friend. After an injury, Banjo does nothing but play Haystation and eat Molasses. Out of shape and no longer a star, Banjo refuses to return to hoofball. It’s only when his best friend is horspitalised that he is motivated to go back to training. Banjo loves being a star again, but is even more pleased to be back in the team.

The appeal of this book is the humour, which had me laughing louder on each subsequent reading. The illustrations are
painted in a simple style and add to the emotion and humour of the book. For 3-8 year olds and anyone who values being part of a team.

** 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!

**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.

** TULLOCH, Coral (text/illus.)LESTER, Alison (text/illus.) One Small Island Penguin, 2011 unpaged $29.95 ISBN 9780670072361

One Small Island is more than just a stunning picture book. Tulloch and Lester have successfully combined an inspirational story with a non-fiction work of history and geology.

This book gently tells the story of Macquarie Island, from before it was discovered in 1810, through the destructive effects humans had on the plants and wildlife until programs were recently launched to save it.

The story begins with a double-spread bird’s-eye view (albatross, actually) of the island in the ocean. The text of the story continues with a sentence or two on each single page, while the illustrations alternate between documentation and breathtaking double-spread landscapes. 9-12 year olds will glean a wealth of facts from the maps, newspaper articles, timeline, glossary,
climate statistics, diary extracts and more, which have been presented as journal entries in various styles to suit each era. The final landscape is Macquarie Island’s sunrise, anticipating a brighter future.

This book is a must for every school library, with potential to even be the basis for a unit of work. 6-8 year olds will enjoy it as a picture book, as it draws us into the sad story of the island, and the message of hope that ‘if we can save one small island,
perhaps we can save them all.’

**  BATTERSBY, Katherine Squish Rabbit University of Queensland Press, 2011 unpaged $19.95 ISBN 978 0 7022 3925 0

Have you ever felt small? Squish is just a little rabbit, which leads to big problems. It’s difficult to make himself seen or heard, and difficult to make friends. He is lonely. Squish tries various ways to solve his problems, but can he make himself feel bigger?

The illustrations are sweet but unique, and work together with the spare text to tell the story. Lots of white space gives a straightforward feel to the book, with collage and watercolour giving texture. The depth of the story is in the rabbit’s emotions which come through the pictures. Squish is drawn simply with a black outline, but has plenty of personality showing through the shape of his body, ears and eyebrows. The reader will enjoy these apparently simple pictures more on each subsequent reading.

The torn-paper collage endpapers add a beautiful touch to this book, with Squish peeking out at the opening and both Squish and his new friend at the end. A padded cover makes Squish Rabbit a perfect gift book.

Just right for 2-5 years olds, and anyone who has ever felt lonely or small.