Dino-Baseball

Wheeler and Gott already proved they have a winning formula with Dino-Hockey (2007) and Dino-Soccer (2009), and there's plenty for dinosaur/sports fanatics to enjoy in this latest installment (the final page hints at a basketball follow-up). It's a beautiful day in Jurassic Park (ballpark, that is), and the herbivores and carnivores are taking the field for the season's final game. The crowd is enthusiastic--and similarly extinct. Wheeler's sturdy, concise couplets provide a nicely percussive play-by-play: 'Stego rumbles down the line./ Compy calls, This one is mine!/ Gloves the ball. Throws him out./That's what baseball's all about!' (The dinosaurs' nicknames are set in contrasting type; a list of their full names can be found in team rosters displayed on the Jumbotron on the first page). Gott nails the drama of high-stakes game with a series of skewed perspectives and never overplays the comedy--his dinosaurs, with their imposing heft and improbably balletic grace, are more than capable of conveying the sublime absurdity of it all.
--Publishers Weekly

-- "Journal"

Following Dino-Hockey (2007) and Dino-Soccer (2009), Wheeler's latest dino-sports story heads to the baseball diamond, where two teams of prehistoric athletes face off: the Green Sox herbivores and Rib-Eye Reds. Once again, the play-by-play action in the acrylic paintings and the rhyming text ("Green Sox need to change the score. / Their only hope? Apatosaur!") will captivate young baseball fans, while the humor in each incongruous scene will widen the book's audience to sports-ambivalent kids. A final spread hints at the series' next installment: 'Buy your tickets at the court / for Dino-Hoops--next season's sport!'
--Booklist

-- "Journal"

In this third book about the Rib-Eye Reds (carnivores) and Green Sox (herbivores), the teams are all over the diamond playing fast-action baseball. The rhyming text sweeps youngsters through the game with appropriate baseball idioms peppered throughout. Wheeler includes on-the-field plays as well as typical baseball-crowd fun like a manager's tantrum, a seventh-inning stretch, and a visit to the snack bar. Gott's illustrations are masterful at catching the leaping, running action of the battling behemoths and giving each spread a stop-action, 'you are there' feel. The final page promises a rematch on the basketball court in the next book. Libraries looking to satisfy dinosaur lovers as well as sports enthusiasts will find this title an easy sell.
--School Library Journal

-- "Journal"