The Family Bookshelf
By Bob Walch

"Dinosaurs Love Underpants"
(Aladdin.) by Claire Freedman & Ben Cort

The Audience: For children 4-7

The Issue: Wearing underpants can create some amusing situations.

The Content: Dinosaurs and underpants - what could be a funnier scenario for a children's picture book? This wacky celebration of underpants is perfect for reading aloud and it may get everyone in the family thinking differently about their "unmentionables".

As you'll see when you turn to page one, the caveman is to blame for the mysterious disappearance of the dinosaur. The decision to "cover up" and don underpants by the hairy homo sapiens starts a chain of events that creates chaos in the prehistoric world.

Taken by the clothing, the dinosaurs decided they were going to adopt the new fashion, but jealously over styles and colors soon led to a major conflict. The large creatures were fighting over the undies and when the individual skirmishes turned into an all out donnybrook - the Underpants War - the end was sadly in sight for the Stone Age creatures.

The Message: Let's assume there's a subtle message embedded in the humor of this silly picture book. If you have a child who is reluctant to switch to "big" boy or girl undies, this book will make them perhaps more willing to do so. There's no sense engaging in an Underpants War in your house, because look what happened to the dinosaurs!

Before retiring, Bob Walch taught English in Santa Barbara and Carmel for 39 years. His reviews of children's literature appear in Central Coast newspapers and on line at the Reading Tub, Roundtable Reviews, My Shelf and Parent Click.