As regular readers know, JJ is a fan of dinosaurs – you may have even noticed her loyal reading buddy, Mr. Winner of the 'Best Preschool Book' prize with Made for Mums, If I Had a Dinosaur make a fantastic bedtime story!

A witty and charmingly illustrated bedtime story about a little girl who imagines what it would be like to have a dinosaur of her very own A little girl dreams of having her very own pet. Wonderfully characterised and atmospheric illustrations complement humorous rhyming text in a story that will appeal to young dinosaur-lovers. Written in lively, witty rhyme and accompanied with charming, childlike illustrations, If I Had a Dinosaur will leave both adults and children wanting a dinosaur of their very own! The kid imagines what it would be like to have a dinosaur and it's pretty much the same as every kid who imagines having a pet dinosaur but look at how she brushes its teeth!She's a little black girl and she loves dinosaurs because, yes, kids who are not male and who are not white also like dinosaurs. 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! Many of the words are substituted for images, which makes for a very engaging reading experience with a little one.

The girl, still in pajamas, bounces on her bed—where a toy green dinosaur sits—and finally decides, she wants “a pet much bigger, more the size of, well, A HOUSE! As read by Eddie Redmayne on CBeebies' Christmas Day Bedtime Story, a witty and charmingly illustrated tale about a little girl who imagines what it would be like to have a dinosaur of her very own. The book encourages active participation from children, with many key nouns replaced by an image causing children to fill in the blanks for themselves. I particularly love that the story is about a little girl as so many dino books are targeted at boys and its doubly great that she happens to be non-white too.

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).