Happy Dinosaur Day!
We're celebrating by talking to Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, the author and illustrator of the How Do Dinosaurs…? series! Exploring themes from bedtime to friendship to safety, this picture book series features adorable dinosaur children as they learn to navigate the world around them.
Read below as Jane and Mark share fun anecdotes from working on the books, discuss what has resonated most with their readers, and offer the inside scoop on the newest How Do Dinosaurs book, How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read, publishing June 26!
We’re also celebrating by giving away three bundles of five titles from the series. Find details at the bottom of the post, and click here to enter!
Scholastic: When you talk to children about the How Do Dinosaurs books, what do they say they love about them?
Mark Teague: Dinosaurs! My readers are often experts on the subject, from a very young age. I’m no longer surprised when they know more than I do.
Jane Yolen: They love the bad behavior, the endpapers, and the love that ends each book.
Scholastic: What is the most fun part about creating the illustrations?
MT: The dinosaurs are like giant toddlers—very expressive! They make a funny contrast with their small, human parents.
Scholastic: Do you have any favorite dinosaurs?
MT: My favorite as a kid was T-Rex, but I’ve learned a lot since then. As an illustrator I like the ones with huge teeth and claws and horns—the more, the better.
JY: T. rex all the way!!!!
Scholastic: You’ve written/illustrated 12 big How Do Dinosaurs books. What makes How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? different from the other ones?
JY: How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? specifically encourages children to read—and to discover that reading is a wonderful experience. Also, this book has a bonus in the back for parents who want to help set their children firmly on the reading road.
Scholastic: What was the biggest challenge in illustrating How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?
MT: The greatest challenge these days is finding great new dinosaurs to illustrate. Paleontologists can’t dig them up fast enough to suit me!
GIVEAWAY
Click here to enter for a chance to win five books from the How Do Dinosaurs series and here to read the full rules. The contest is open to US residents only from May 15 to May 29. No purchase is necessary, and you must be eighteen or older to enter. Good luck!
