Dad's Dinosaur Day

Dad just isn't himself. ``I guess he's having a dinosaur day, Mikey,'' says the narrator's mother as Dad, incarnated as a three-toed, bipedal dinosaur, sits at the breakfast table stuffing his maw with pages from the Local Yokel . Mikey and his mother watch as Dad declines his usual responsibilities: `` `Aren't you going to work?' I asked him. `Dinosaurs don't know how to work,' roared Dad.'' Instead, Dad carries Mikey to school on his back, then stays to turn the jump-rope during recess. Preschoolers will like Hearn's determinedly uncooperative dinosaur dad, even if they don't understand the metaphor. The art is cheerful and cartoony, never threatening. One particularly exuberant picture shows the dinosaur having a shower on the front lawn under a sprinkler (`` `Dinosaurs don't fit into bathtubs,' roared Dad'') while his son cavorts as well. The ending strikes a whimsical but meaningful note--the next day, as a fully human Dad wonders why breakfast isn't ready, a dinosaur Mom strolls through the front door: `` `Dinosaurs don't know how to cook,' roared Mom.'' Ages 5-8. (Sept.)