Crunch the Shy Dinosaur by Cirocco Dunlap and Greg Pizzoli

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Justification

Listed on the Texas Library Association's 2x2 Reading List, Crunch The Shy Dinosaur is a great early reader picture book that shows how easy it can be to make a friend. While dinosaurs are long gone in real life, Crunch is a bright pink and awkwardly shy guy who needs some help making friends. The reader is engaged by interactively responding to the narrator, creating a great practice session for introducing oneself or making new friends with someone who may be reluctant or shy.

Evaluation

Illustrations: Crunch The Shy Dinosaur is filled with brightly illustrated pages designed to draw the reader's attention to Crunch. Sometimes Crunch is silly with his funny hat, or frightened because we greeted him too loudly. These instances easily engage young readers and help them understand that everyone is different and will react differently to certain things. The illustrations help show the reader the importance of watching and understanding the needs of others so that they can feel welcome despite any difference they may feel.

Text: The text helps to emphasize the story by allowing the reader to interact with Crunch and actively engage in the story, "Crunch is shy, so you'll have to be the first to say hello. Go on, say hello." It has very simple text that is easy to understand and follow.

Interactive elements: The interactive text presents a familiar situation that can be very scary for some children. The interactive text gives the reader the ability to "interact" with Crunch in a way that help them understand that it is perfectly fine to be shy or like something different, or even wear a funny hat. Interaction with the text enables children to role play situations where they may encounter someone hesitant to join in because of shyness or being differently abled--the reader is able to learn empathy and kindness through the interactions with Crunch.

Conclusion

Crunch The Shy Dinosaur is a wonderful addition for early readers as an empathy building tool or for building confidence in shy children. It contains great lessons about personal space, holding conversations, and engaging with others.

Citation

Dunlap, C., & Pizzoli, G. (2018). Crunch, the shy dinosaur. New York: Dragonfly Books.