As soon as I started having children, I started listening to Laurie Berkner. I remember sitting on the floor in my kids’ rooms as her music filled our house, playing with my kids. I would sing along, and as they got older they would request certain songs. “I’m Gonna Getcha” is still one of their favorites. When I heard that We Are The Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner was available in book form, I was thrilled! I was also happy that my son was still young enough to appreciate it. He’s always loved the song, and as we drove in our car, we would sing along to Laurie, yelling the words of “We Are The Dinosaurs,” because, let’s face it, every little boy loves to yell the words to that song after he’s heard it for the first time!
Laurie Berkner is a pioneer in her field. She is noted for being “the undisputed queen of kindie rock” by USA Today. She was the first children’s music artist to have her videos on Nick Jr. and appeared regularly on the network’s Jack’s Big Music. Her most popular song, “We Are The Dinosaurs” is celebrating it’s 20th year in 2017, but Laurie isn’t sitting on her laurels. She is working on her third NYCCT musical called Interstellar Cinderella set to open in the fall of this year. Her most recent album, Superhero, was released last year, which includes a dance remix of “We Are The Dinosaurs.” If you’re looking for the original song, you can find it on Whaddaya Think of That, her first album, or The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band.
When the book arrived in the mail, everyone in the house was excited to read it right away, and we did! We loved the pictures, and the kids sang the words on the page as I read the story. We Are The Dinosaurs is the perfect book to continue the love of dinosaurs from Laurie’s song to your night time routine, or reading time during the day. It’s easy enough to let your kids sound out the words if they are beginner readers, but still grabs older kids with the song’s words throughout the book, which encourages singing the catchy tune.
A nice size hardcover book, We Are The Dinosaurs has colors that are pleasing to boys or girls and features art by Ben Clanton. The story follows two dinosaur kids who are off for a fun day of making the earth flat. They meet up with friends along the way, stopping to rest and eat, and finally returning to their parents at the end of the day to tell them all about the eventful day they had. But there’s one part of the song that they didn’t do, and everyone joins in for the final pages where the dinosaurs finish up the song with the best part, the ROAR! These last few pages got my son and daughter the most excited, and giggling uncontrollably when we finished reading the book.
If you have a dinosaur lover in your family, I highly recommend both the song and the book to help get your daily dino fix. I know I’m happy to have both ready for when my kids request them!
We Are the Dinosaurs
By Laurie Berkner | Illustrated by Ben Clanton
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: March 21, 2017
Recommended for ages 4 – 8
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Disclosure: The writer received a copy of Laurie Berkner’s book We Are the Dinosaurs for the purpose of facilitating this review. All thoughts and opinions are the writer’s own. Some links provided are affiliate links. Little Lake County will earn a portion of purchases made through those links. Thank you for clicking.
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