Touring Book Club: Dinosaurs Don't Draw #TouringPictureBook

Last month you may remember that we joined forces with three of our favourite UK based bloggers, Acorn Books, Bookbairn and Mamma Filz to create the Touring Book Club and we each shared an activity inspired by the very beautiful Up in the Leaves  written by Shira Boss and illustrated by Jamey Christoph. We were so delighted by how well the Touring Book Club was received that we are back to share a fun selection of arty activities to accompany the fantastic book, Dinosaurs Don't Draw.



About the book


Dinosaurs Don't Draw is a really fun book written by Elli Woollard, illustrated by Steven Lenton and first published by Macmillan in May 2018. 

The story is about little Picassaur, a dino who loves to draw. But his passion for art is not shared by the rest of his fierce dino family. They tell him that dinosaurs "gnash and bash", "stomp and romp", and "howl and growl" but do not draw! However, their minds are quickly changed when the little artist's fearsome creation saves them from a terrifying T-Rex that threatens them all.

This exciting story is packed with catchy rhymes and brilliant descriptive language making it an absolute delight to read aloud. The eye-catching illustrations are bold and colourful creating a really vibrant book appealing to all little bookworms and especially those that are dino mad like the youngest two Mini Reviewers. As well as being a really fun read, the story also has an important underlying message that it's great to try out new things and be a little different!

We get messy


Inspired by little Picassaur, I thought it would be lots of fun to have a go at creating some large scale dino artwork of our own. I envisaged the Mini Reviewers stamping, stomping and roaring around the garden like the little dino lovers they are whilst creating some dino footprints! 

The reality was a little different and although, great fun was had by all (which Mamma Filz assures me is the most important thing), the results of our arty antics were a little underwhelming. The experience was also a good reminder to adjust your expectations, keep you plans flexible and to expect the unexpected when dealing with green paint and small children!

We had intended to do the activity outside but chose the only rainy day in the week and so we had to do the painting inside. Undeterred I covered the kitchen floor with large sheets of paper and made some giant dino feet from cardboard and bubble wrap - all recycled book packaging! However on testing the giant feet, Mini Reviewer Theo declared he was unhappy with the design and after lengthy negotiations, we opted to wrap his own feet in bubble wrap. Mini Reviewer Poppy was also not a fan of the cardboard feet, so I wrapped her feet up too! 

With both children's feet snuggly wrapped in bubble wrap, I carefully got them to step into trays of paint, it was very, very slippy! Then off they both went stamping, stomping and roaring... and covering themselves and everything else in the kitchen with paint! 






Poppy decided that the giant cardboard feet would be great for her hands and opted to crawl around the floor, before sitting in the paint and finally covering herself entirely. She was such a mess that I couldn't remove all the paint so she had green tinged eyebrows for the rest of the day and possibly the next day as well!




So although this activity was brilliant fun, if you do ever try this at home, my one piece of advice would be to do it outside!!!

Touring Book Club


We hope you enjoyed reading our post, please do stop by the other blog stops for the Touring Book Club as Mamma Filz retells the story using small world playBookbairn makes some Stomping Dinosaur Prints; and Acorn Books share her ideas to encourage reluctant artists.

This book can be purchased via our Amazon Store (affiliate link), along with a whole frenzy of other dinosaur books!

Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of this book for review purposes from the Publisher. All opinions are, as always, our own. This post contains affiliate links. You can find out what this means here.

3 comments:

  1. This looks like so much fun! But were you crazy to do it inside?!

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  2. oh this is a fun activity idea. I have seen this book on a few blogs and it looks so fun. I love how creative you got with your little one. #KLTR

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  3. Oh wow you are so brave with the dino prints I am rubbish at doing crafts like this but it looks so cool! #KLTR

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