| Title | : | Danny and the Dinosaur |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0064440028 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780064440028 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 64 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1958 |
This edition contains altered illustrations, but not the later recolored ones.
Danny and the Dinosaur Reviews
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Neo I took the lead with this book, exploring the origins of the relationship between Danny and the Dinosaur. After visiting a museum, Danny discovers a new (and 100 million year-old) friend. From playing games to helping others, and even enjoying time with Danny’s friends, the Dinosaur shows just how interesting things can be with a giant pet. Neo struggled a little and we took four sit-down reading periods to complete this book, but he did get to the end and felt the accomplishment. We’ve read one other book in the series and will likely return to it, given the chance. Apparently a classic from over 50 years ago, Neo likes the action and story told by Hoff in this series debut.
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It's easy to see why this book has put smiles on children's faces for over fifty years. I know my six-year-old self would have LOVED it if a dinosaur befriended me at the museum, gave me a ride around town, and played hide-and-seek with me and my friends! I think there are such cute touches in the book with the text and especially the illustrations, like when the dinosaur makes a bridge for the people to cross the street, or when he sees the "giant rocks" (buildings) and thinks of climbing them. So funny! I also appreciate Danny's sensitivity when he realizes that the dinosaur really can't play hide-and-seek the right way so he and his friends adjust their game to help the dinosaur feel welcome and "win." Of course, there is a bit of old-fashionedness to the story and illustrations (including the completely un-PC second page where Danny enters the museum and sees "Indians and bears and Eskimos"!) but I think the fun and friendship of the story would carry it through to today's kids.
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My husband brought Danny and the Dinosaur home from the library today. He immediately sat down and my daughter climbed in his lap. I listened as he read and looked at the pictures over his shoulder. I believe I have read this before long ago. My daughter sat for about half the book and stood to look at the pictures for most of the rest. I enjoyed listening in and my husband said “It’s cute.” I liked the bright pictures. I liked the fun that Danny and the children have with the dinosaur. Especially, hide-and-seek. I think my daughter really likes the pictures in this one. She just took the book off the couch and is flipping through it. As a family, we all enjoyed this one!
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"Danny and the Dinosaur" is a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year Award by Syd Hoff and it is about how a young boy named Danny starts playing with a friendly dinosaur who has come to life when in a museum that Danny goes to. "Danny and the Dinosaur" is a true masterpiece for many children who love books about dinosaurs!
Syd Hoff has done an outstanding job at both illustrating and writing this book. Syd Hoff's illustrations are both creative and cute at the same time as the dinosaur that Danny encounters looks extremely friendly and the dinosaur's body would usually take up the pages that he is on and Danny himself is an extremely cute and friendly looking child as he always has a smile on his face when he is around the dinosaur. Also, what made Syd Hoff's illustrations truly creative is that there would be a set of two pages that are mainly in brown, black and white and then the next set of two pages would be in all kinds of color, which is a similar format that
Madeline's Rescue had. Syd Hoff makes this story extremely cute and heartwarming at the same time as Danny learns about the true meaning of friendship when he spends much of his day with the dinosaur and enjoys his time spent with the dinosaur. Syd Hoff also made this book highly creative as this was one of the few children's books that I have read where a human child talks to a dinosaur like a human being and Syd Hoff has made the interaction between the dinosaur and Danny so heartwarming as Danny and the Dinosaur act like true best friends.
"Danny and the Dinosaur" is truly one of the greatest books about dinosaurs ever created and it would be a huge hit for children who love dinosaurs and learning the true meaning of friendship. I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the writing format of this book is extremely simple for three year olds and up to read.
Review is also on:
Rabbit Ears Book Blog
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I grew up reading Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, a beginning reader originally published in 1958 as part of the prestigious I Can Read series, and have many fond memories of Danny's day of adventure with his prehistoric friend. Who hasn't fantasized about having a pet dinosaur, or wondered what those fossilized skeletons in the museum would look like, if they suddenly came alive?
Recently, a post on one of my favorite children's literature blogs,
American Indians in Children's Literature, drew my attention to the problematic nature of the illustration in which Danny, at the museum for the day, is looking at a display containing an Indian, a bear, and an Eskimo. I was surprised, because although I had always found it odd and inappropriate that the achievements of non-European peoples - Native Americans, Pacific Islanders - would be collected in a museum devoted to "natural" history, while similar artifacts from European peoples are labeled "art," and find their way to a different sort of museum, I had no recollection of this illustration, from my childhood reading. Needless to say, I decided to track down a copy and reread, especially when - by sheer coincidence - we chose Danny and the Dinosaur as one of our July dinosaur-themed reads over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong.
So... does this single illustration - which unquestionably hearkens back to outdated notions of racial hierarchy (some of them still with us, unfortunately) in which Europeans are somehow more fully "human," while non-Europeans are in the same category as animals - ruin the story? Will it harm the young reader? Is Professor Debbie Reese right? Should Danny and the Dinosaur be pulled from shelves? My answers are, respectively: Yes and No, Yes, Yes, and No.
To wit: I don't know that it's fair to say that the illustration "ruins" the story, since I can only speak for myself, but I do know that I will never be entirely comfortable with this title again. I will always be thinking of that illustration, what it means, and what harm it might do. Which brings me to: yes, I think images like this, for all their seeming innocence - perhaps because of them? - can do harm. Perhaps not lasting, terrible harm, all on their own, but if combined with enough similar material, not insignificant harm either. Meaning, of course, that yes, Professor Reese is right. She's right to point out this illustration, and she's right to question it. But finally, no, no I don't think, as she does, that it should be pulled from the library shelves. Leaving aside my passionate belief that the library should be a repository for the printed word, not some revolving-door collection based on popularity (or even morality), I also think that titles such as this fade away when they have no more significance, and it's worse than useless trying to forbid them. Worse, because we give things immense power by forbidding them...
I gave this three stars, because it would be untruthful, in light of my childhood love of it, to give it less. But although I wouldn't support its removal from the library, I also wouldn't go out of my way to promote it. -
I imagine this was a charming book when it was released in the late fifties. I suppose I can see the appeal. It's a simple book for kids who are learning to read. It has a goofy looking dinosaur. It has a polite little kid. And they have fun little adventures in some nondescript American city.
But it's not the fifties anymore, and I am a jaded bastard who likes his kids books on the salty (or maybe just interesting) side. So the sweet dino and the sweet boy are like the syrupy skein of goo at the back of the tongue after 5 cans of warm, flat Dr. Pepper. Every once in a while I get a craving for Dr. Pepper despite that coating, and the same thing happens with
Danny and the Dinosaur. I gorge myself, hate the after taste, then wait a year or two for the craving to return.
Lately, though, my little Scoutie's developing a taste for Danny and the Dinosaur, so the book is overstaying its welcome, and the after taste is making me gag. I'm going to try and redirect her into
Harold and the Purple Crayon. Wish me luck. -
This book came out when I was 4 or 5 and I’ll bet I read it when I was young, but I don’t remember it. I hope that I read it when I was 5 or 6 or 7; I would have absolutely loved it.
It’s a very cute story, very 1958, but I think today’s young readers will enjoy it too. The text is good for early readers, and younger children will enjoy having this read to them.
Most kids like dinosaurs and the dinosaur here is adorable. He’s endearing, friendly, helpful, and he uses correct grammar too. He’s funny too, if you get the jokes.
The illustrations are really great; they’re a lot of fun.
I read this for July’s
Children's Books group Picture Books Club. This month’s theme: dinosaurs. -
A visit to the museum turns into the craziest, most wonderful day of Danny's life when a little unexplained magic brings him a thrillingly unique playmate. The standard museum pieces are interesting—antique weapons, decorative vases, knight's armor, life-size figures of animals and people—but the dinosaur section is what captures Danny's fancy. He's a dino fanatic, and the only thing better than touring the museum's dinosaur hall would be if one of the behemoths came to life and could play with him. Danny gets his impossible wish when a long-necked dino awakens from its display case and asks him to play, and Danny doesn't waste a moment saying yes. The possibilities for amusement with a dinosaur are endless.
The first order of business is to take the ride of a lifetime on the creature's long neck, which lifts Danny high into the sky as the new pair of friends gallop about town. Danny and his dino peek in on a professional baseball game, ferry across a canal, and spend time at the zoo, where a live dinosaur is a cinch to trump any animal exhibit. The zoo animals are unhappy that the crowds favor the prehistoric creature ahead of them, leading the man in charge to ask the dinosaur to move on so "the animals will get looked at," a laugh-out-loud moment. Danny and his titanic mount have great fun playing with Danny's kid friends, teaching the dinosaur tricks and playing hide and seek, though the behemoth's size puts him at a decided disadvantage when he's doing the hiding. Danny's dinosaur has a selfless side, too, lifting people across busy streets and carrying ladies and their shopping parcels so they haven't so far to walk. Yet even the ultimate fantasy of palling around with a dinosaur must end, and this story isn't without its bittersweet moment as the boy and his Jurassic companion part ways. But what a time they had together. Not every boy is so blessed as to spend a day with a real live dinosaur.
Stepping smoothly into Danny's life as if nothing could be more natural, the dinosaur's majestic presence is perhaps taken for granted by the boy and his friends. They suggest games they could easily play on their own, or with a dog instead of a gigantic prehistoric reptile, but maybe this nonchalance allows them to fully enjoy the experience without overthinking it, without spending so much energy fretting about its inevitable end that they neglect to appreciate the euphoric ride they're on. How often is one's fondest desire brought to life, especially when it's a desire we thought would never come to pass? This is why the story's ending is wistful, because miracles usually don't last forever and we know that the person who was the improbable answer to our heart-wish may exit our life sooner or later. But as long as we savored the time we had together, we're infinitely better off for the blessing they were to us. Danny would never take back his one beautiful day with his dinosaur.
Syd Hoff's New Yorker art is in top form for Danny and the Dinosaur, and his writing is no less impressive. The narrative is fantastical by design, with no explanation attempted for how the dinosaur comes to life or can communicate with humans in English. It's purely a fantasy for kids who want to play with their very own dinosaur vicariously through Danny, and there's nothing wrong with that. I rate Danny and the Dinosaur two and a half stars; it's one of the better easy readers I've come across, a pleasure for all ages. Come prepared to think a little about the nature of spectacular wishes granted and have lots and lots and lots of fun. -
One of my 'dino-favorites' that I can remember reading a boy...great way to start summer!
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My husband had a copy of Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff as a child. His parents still have his old collection of picture books by the bedroom the grandkids use when visiting. On our last night of a recent visit, I read the book to Sean and Harriet. What I didn't realize, was that it's one of my son's favorite "I Can Read Books."
Danny goes to the library and sees a dinosaur on display. It makes him wish that he could have a pet dinosaur. The dinosaur comes alive and offers to spend the day with Danny, saying he needs a break after so many thousands of years!
The rest of the book is all about the dinosaur's adventures in and around town with Danny. Lots of the jokes involve the dinosaur's height: he becomes a walking bridge across a busy street, a walking bus for impatient commuters, and a barge in the bay.
As the dinosaur is a friendly and intelligent creature, he quickly becomes friends with adults and children alike. The end of the book centers on him and Danny playing with neighborhood children. A game of hide and seek is rather one-sided but the children eventually find a way to make it work.
It's a cute book. I can see why my husband and son like it. -
Danny visits the museum and when he gets to the dinosaur display a real dinosaur pops out and asks Danny to play with him. So off they go through the town having lots of fun ending up playing hide 'n' seek with the neighbourhood children but as sunset comes along everyone must go home including the dinosaur who must get back to the museum. This is one of the original "I Can Read" books that has stood the test of time. What little boy doesn't go through the dinosaur stage? This silly story is a load of fun and can be enjoyed by any age. Syd Hoff was one of the great children's author/illustrators and his works will never go out of print. Some of the PC persuasion may find the display of the "Indian" and "Eskimo" offensive, but the rest of us will enjoy a good old-fashioned timeless classic. One word of note though, buy yourself an old secondhand copy if possible. The new reprints have been recolourized with dark full-colour illustrations rather than the light pencil crayon effect of the originals.
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The book features Danny, a young boy whose day in the museum gets much better when he meets a real Dinosaur. The two spend the day together, heading downtown, to the zoo, and finally spending some time playing with Danny’s neighborhood friends.
I remember enjoying this book as a kid, and it holds up well today. While there is really nothing in the way of plot, the pictures and words, sometimes more captions to the pictures than anything else, tell of a delightful day together for these two new friends. The pictures are a bit dated since the book came out in the 1950’s, but I doubt kids notice or care. Instead, they’ll be caught up in the fun of spending a day with a dinosaur, smiling and laughing at some of the situations along the way.
Read my full review at
Carstairs Considers. -
Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics
AR POINTS: .5 READING LEVEL: 2.3
A cute children’s I Can Read book written and published in 1958. It is similar to the Dick and Jane I Can Read books, which are the books we learned to read in school. I’m just now reminded of a book my mom bought us girls about Harry the dog written by Gene Zion. I remember specifically reading “Harry the Dirty Dog (1956), which I just now read again free on Archive.org website. I had totally forgotten about that book. Unfortunately, my family didn’t save any of our childhood books.
This is 1 of 4 books saved by the Woolwine family. It was in with my cousin’s (Lancer Woolwine) family photos, which I am currently organizing for their family. -
Danny spends the day with a dinosaur, doing all the fun sort of things he'd do with the rest of his friends (i.e. playing hide and seek, etc).
This is a cute, comical, story with a sweet ending, but there really isn't *that* much to the plot. I'd probably give this three stars, except that I remember enjoying it when I was little and for whatever reason (the story, the illustrations, or both) it made an impression on me. So, for that I gave it an extra star. -
Childhood favorite. Who doesn't want a dinosaur friend?
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Kid has a dinosaur. How friggin' great is that?
I like that when Danny gets the dinosaur, he chooses to ride it around town, much like you might if you'd just acquired, say, a new moped. Sure, you could alert the media and become a overnight sensation and a historical footnote, or somehow contain the dinosaur and make a handsome living charging admission. You could even assume that you've lost all control of your mental faculties, and flee gibbering into the woods, subsisting on checkerberry and using a pointy rock and a poplar branch to fashion a chipmunk bludgeon that in the back of your mind you know you'll never get up the guts to use. But why put yourself (and the dinosaur, for that matter) through all that when you could simply hop on and take him out for a spin, leaving a sprightly trail of charmingly illustrated mayhem in your wake, and no doubt all but depleting the town's already meager budget. -
This is definitely one of my favorite childhood books for who wouldn't love the fact of checking out a museum and then getting to spend a whole day playing with a very friendly dinosaur. And as if that isn't a whole sundae in itself the dinosaur can actually talk back to you while is very willing to be of service to people who would just gape or deface it in the museum anyway.
The book is an introduction to reading so there aren't that many hard words that children will struggle to get over although Eskimo may end up causing problems to some. There is a bit of a rhythm to the telling of the story that will hold the reader's interest as Danny and his dinosaur go through a whole day of fun.
Charming and full of imagination this will be one dinosaur you won't want to let go of.... -
This book was kind of a mix between a picture book and a transitional book. It had a good mix of words and pictures, but probably too long and too many words to just be considered a picture book; at the same time, it was a way easier read than something like Junie B. Jones so it probably wasn't fully transitional either. As far as the plot goes though, I enjoyed it. It's another one of those books that takes your mind away to another place and really gets your imagination going. And when I was a kid, I LOVED dinosaurs, so the idea of a dinosaur coming to life and getting to spend the day with him seemed really cool to me.
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Who doesn't like dinosaurs!? I read this to my 8 week old daughter and she loved it... Well, she didn't hate it anyway ;) I vaguely remember reading this in elementary school and I would recommend every child reads it at least once. Any young child can relate to the activities in the story line and the dialogue is quite easy to follow (don't forget to add your own exclamation points!). There really isn't any diversity in the story, which is typical for many stories written in the 1950s. Furthermore, the story isn't really educational. This aside, it is a great story and can be considered a "comfort" read for any young (or even older) child.
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Originally published in 1978, this book came with a special pack that I ordered through scholastic. I had no idea what this was about and I’m not a big dinosaur fan. There’s a reason this book is now a classic (though I’d never heard of it). It has a gentle, sweet tone I’ve come to expect from children’s books from story books from before I’d say about 1960. The story is charming and the illustrations are colorful and fun to look at. It’s much longer than your average children’s easy reader also.
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Pretty much any book my reluctant reader can read aloud and wants to read aloud gets an automatic four stars from me. It doesn't hold up as well to repeat readings as, say, Frog and Toad, but it's still tolerable. It's a cute story of friendship, and one I recall fondly from my own childhood. Do they any longer make quality children's books that are easy for a first or second grader to read? Every one I've found that fits both criteria was written prior to 1970.
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I loved this book as a kid and was pleased to find it at a rummage sale recently. I had to buy this for my 4 year old song. I love reading it to him. I love how much he enjoys the magic of the book. He makes me read it to him as if the dinosaur is female, which is interesting to figure out what in his head determined that the male dinosaur in the book was actually a female in his head. What a magical and fun book.
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Papa: So...
Miloš: I really liked that they had fun together, and not did not have fun.
Papa: Okay, what else?
Miloš: Actually, that was it. Okay, Pa.
Papa: Okay. (But I would like to mention that this book is 64 pages long and contains the first page Miloš has ever read without pictures. The boy is a reading fiend). -
Danny visits the museum where he discovers his favorite creature of all, dinosaurs. To Danny’s surprise, one of the dinosaurs comes to life. Follow Danny and the dinosaur as they spend the day together exploring the city, eating ice cream and playing hide and seek with Danny’s friends.
I like this simple and charming tale because it really plays towards a child's imagination. -
This is a wonderful story for any child that loves dinosaurs. Danny finds a dinosaur in a museum that comes alive. He goes on all kinds of adventures with his new playmate. In the end then dinosaur has to go home. Danny is okay with that since his new friend is too big to stay in his house.
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My kiddo has been reading this one aloud for the past week for the Blossom&Root-K LA unit.
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Picked up for my 1950s themed storytime. Put down for my 1950s storytime by page 6 of the 9780060224660 edition due to potentially racist wording & illustrations. A thing of its time? Sure...it was 1958 and Syd Hoff was a white American man. Read & endorse for a public storytime in a world after March 5, 2021? Nahhh. I have the 2019 storybook collection edition requested from a neighboring library but other youth librarians be aware. It can chillax on the shelf for sure [ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee Member 2019-2021 before y'all accuse me of something] but it is in the same vein as If I Ran the Zoo by Seuss.
