Dazzle the Dinosaur ANNOTATION
Dazzle the dinosaur helps his friend Maia and her mother reclaim their former home from the nasty Dragonsaurus.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The bestselling author of The Rainbow Fish and The Christmas Star returns with an all- new picture about Dazzle, a dinosaur with a beautiful glittering spine. When Dazzle and his friend, Maia the Maiasaurus, set out on an adventure, they meet a terrible Dragonsaurus! Will Dazzle's shining spines save the day? Full color. Holographic foil stamping.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The appeal of this somewhat run-of-the-mill story is boosted by the use of a reflective overlay on the tiny prehistoric hero's spines-the same technique that brought bestsellerdom to Pfister's The Rainbow Fish. Readers first meet Dazzle as a sparkly egg that has mysteriously appeared in Mother Maiasaurus's nest. He hatches at the same time as little Maia, and they become fast friends, exploring the valley where they live and dodging its many dangers-including the bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus Rex. Dazzle vows to rout the evil Dragonsaurus who drove the Maiasauruses from their valley, a quest ensues, and the flashy hero's shiny spines save the day. Pfister's soft pen-and-wash illustrations, rendered in soothing hues of lavender, soft green and blue are pretty, though oddly bland-with the exception, of course, of Dazzle's shiny spines. There is some fact woven into this fantasy, but these wide-eyed dinosaurs have more in common with Barney than with the exhibits of a natural history museum. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
Children's Literature - Dr. Judy Rowen
A strange egg appears in the nest of a Maiasaurus. When it hatches, the Maiasaurs first think it is a normal baby dinosaur until it unfolds a row of glittering spines along its back. Dubbed Dazzle, the baby dinosaur and his nest-mate, Maia, explore their world and encounter other dinosaurs, friendly and frightening. Dazzle and Maia bravely rout the terrible Dragonsaur from the family's previous cave home, partly with the help of Dazzle's gleaming spines. As with Pfister's previous book, The Rainbow Fish, the illustrations contain iridescent insets in the bright watercolors.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2Two young dinosaur friends, Maia (a Maiasaurus) and Dazzle (who has a row of iridescent, foil-stamped spines on his back), set off to reclaim their ancestral cave from a mean Dragonsaurus that has taken over. They scare him away with an implausible tactic and then, in an anticlimactic ending, lead the other dinosaurs back to the peaceful valley. Blues and blended greens predominate in the watercolor illustrations. The cartoonlike creatures have wide eyes; Maia has long, curly lashes. Dazzle's spines hint at a magical element that is never really delivered. A dazzle-less production.Alexandra Marris, Rochester Public Library, NY
BookList - Lauren Peterson
The reflective illustrations Pfister used in "Rainbow Fish" (1993) are successfully used again in this charming prehistoric tale. Food and water are scarce in the valley where young Dazzle (so named because of the glittering spines along his back) and his friend Maia live. It hasn't always been that way, though. Until vicious Dragonsuras came along, the dinosaurs lived in a cave with its own fresh spring and roamed a valley filled with delicious trees and ferns. Together, Dazzle and Maia set out to chase the nasty beast away and regain their rightful home. The plot is fast paced and imaginative, and the shimmering artwork is integral to the goings-on, not merely decorative. The popularity of the subject matter among young children, coupled with the unusual look of the pictures, will ensure the book a warm reception at story time, followed by lots of requests to read it again.
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