We Are the Dinosaurs

Popular children’s musician Berkner (The Story of My Feelings) brings another of her songs to the picture book crowd with this vibrant adaptation. Berkner’s lyrics provide a rowdy framework for the story—“We are the dinosaurs,/ marching, marching./ We are the dinosaurs—/ whaddaya think of that?”—and Clanton’s (Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea) zippy cartoons create a parallel visual adventure that brings Berkner’s words to life. Rainbow-colored young dinosaurs, outlined with a chunky black line and wearing neckerchiefs like a kind of Mesozoic scouting troupe, bid farewell to their parents and march over a hill, through a river, and up a mountain. All along their trek, dialogue asides in the art keep readers in the action: “Uh-oh! Time to go!” says a yellow triceratops as the mountain they’ve been resting in starts to rumble, sending the dinos on a quick march home. Berkner’s fans and newcomers alike should find much to enjoy about in these boisterous, independent-minded dinosaurs’ adventure. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Illustrator’s agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Mar.)