Dinosaur Farm

“It’s hard work being a farmer.” True enough, but when the farm animals are dinosaurs (along with a few carnivorous-looking plants) the challenges ramp up considerably. Those critters eat a lot and require plenty of elbow grease to stay clean—the manure pile alone boggles the imagination (while also tickling readers’ funny bones, of course). The farmer doesn’t exactly take it all in stride, but he’s diligent and professional from sunup to sundown and still capable of appreciating how “new life is always beginning on a farm.” At book’s end, it’s clear that all the dinosaurs under his care love him—maybe a little too much. Preston-Gannon’s (How to Lose a Lemur) layered images are rendered in rich, loamy colors, and her consistent use of a single plane gives a good sense of a landscape where there’s always another chore to be done. To her great credit, the word “dinosaur” never appears in the text, which makes the improbable scenario even funnier and more meaningful: whether it’s an ant farm or one filled with terrible (but cute) lizards, “Your farm needs you!” Ages 3–5. (Sept.)