Picture Book Review – Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct – Mo Willems (Author & Illustrator)

Picture Book Review – Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct – Mo Willems (Author & Illustrator)

Recommended for – Toddlers, Younger Readers

I've finally tracked down a Mo Willems book that isn't an Elephant & Piggie or Pigeon title!

Edwina the dinosaur is loved by everyone, but there’s one problem – as Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie points out, Edwina should be extinct! He does his best to point this out to everyone, but when he finally tells Edwina, will she even care?

Mo Willems is one of the greatest picture book authors of all time, which is a scientific fact, backed up by science. There’s a unique feel to his stories, and a wonderful sense of humour running through them that parents will appreciate as much as their children, and Edwina is in the same vein of wacky hilarity as any of the Elephant & Piggie or Pigeon books. Having said that, this is probably my least favourite book of his that I've read so far – but when you see the rating that I've given it, that should merely highlight the fact that Willems’ work is so strong, as I still thought the book was illustrated delightfully, had a wonderful premise, and was very funny.

Perhaps it’s because it’s missing the way that his other stories use characters that talk to the narrator, which I absolutely love, and is a technique that I've used in several stories that I've written – regardless, this is a great book, well worth a read, and great for letting children believe that maybe the beasts that they believe have gone extinct are really still out there.

8/10