You Can't Be a Pterodactyl!

April 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 After a teacher tells her students, "You can be whatever you want to be," they respond with firefighter, farmer, and nurse. When Tommy announces that he wants to be a pterodactyl, his classmates laugh, and his teacher says, "You can't be a pterodactyl." Despite teasing and attempts to change his mind, Tommy is unswayed. He confides in his father, who asks why he chose a pterodactyl, "I guess so I could rise above any problems . . . But if I wanted, I could fly down and help." Dad assures him that it's possible, and they play pterodactyls all afternoon. The final scene features grown-up Tommy flying his small "Pterodactyl Sea Rescue" plane toward an island with an erupting volcano. He looks content. Seeing him achieve the essence of his dream is just as satisfying as watching his father join in his fantasy while, no doubt, figuring out how Tommy can realistically achieve his ambition. There's gentle humor as well as warmth in both the text and the appealing digital illustrations. An engaging picture book for reading aloud.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 15, 2023
It is possible to be whatever you want. When his teacher tells students they can be anything they want, Tommy announces his ambition: to be a pterodactyl. Unsurprisingly, classmates jeer. Tommy's sure a pterodactyl's diet of live fish would be an improvement over cafeteria fare; living in a cave in a cliff overlooking the sea where no one could visit him sounds ideal; and, as he explains to the bus driver, people would pay him, as a pterodactyl, not to pick them up and fly them places. Kids on the bus tease him mercilessly. When Tommy arrives home, his dad listens to him carefully and suggests that Tommy "live like a pterodactyl, even if on the outside you still look like Tommy." Dad accepts and understands his son's aspirations, and the two pretend to be pterodactyls all afternoon. The result: Because of his strongly held, actually logical beliefs and dad's affirmation, Tommy does grow up to be a pterodactyl--sort of; kids will cheer the satisfying, makes-perfect-sense ending. This empowering story is all about having seemingly unattainable goals and being lucky enough to have supporters willing to help achieve them. Tommy's a sweet, realistic, albeit dreamy, character; his dad, a model, caring parent. The colorful, somewhat stylized illustrations are lively and humorous. Tommy and his dad are light-skinned. Classmates and school personnel are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Affirmation that you can have dreams the size of a prehistoric flying reptile. (Picture book. 5-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2023

PreS-Gr 2-Tommy, a fair-skinned eight-year-old, takes it literally when his teacher announces that he can be anything he wants to be when he grows up. Tommy wants to be a pterodactyl. Unfortunately, his teacher, the lunch attendant, his friends, the bus driver, and a few older kids try to squash his dream. Fortunately, he has a patient and understanding dad and a great dog. His dad asks Tommy why he wants to be a pterodactyl. After some thought, he explains that becoming a pterodactyl would let him fly above his problems; Dad suggests that he could live like a pterodactyl but still look like himself. They spend the rest of the day playing as pterodactyls. Even the dog is now sporting a dinosaur costume. Colorful and cleverly detailed illustrations move the action along to the happy ending, but the jump to successful adult Tommy is a bit jarring. VERDICT An erratic plot makes this an additional purchase, but this gentle story will appeal to dinosaur fans with dreams of their own.-Elisabeth LeBris

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2023
Tommy aspires to be a pterodactyl when he grows up. Easy, right? When he announces his dream to the class, however, he is met with laughter from his classmates and dismissiveness from his killjoy teacher. The titular refrain is lobbed at Tommy throughout the day. He has answers to everyone's objections (to "There's no money in being a pterodactyl," he rejoins, "People will pay me to pick them up and fly them places"), but the teasing takes its toll. Luckily, Dad knows how to comfort and encourage his imaginative child. Corrigan's bouncy, cartoonlike illustrations feature simply drawn characters, with color and shading providing depth. After an evening of soaring around the backyard together with blankets as wings, Tommy's dad encourages him to follow his inner-pterodactyl dreams. Whether it be dino lovers or fans of prehistoric flying reptiles (as Tommy reminds us, pterodactyls are not dinosaurs), this story speaks to anyone who dreams of the seemingly impossible. Hill Saxton

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2023
Tommy aspires to be a pterodactyl when he grows up. Easy, right? When he announces his dream to the class, however, he is met with laughter from his classmates and dismissiveness from his killjoy teacher. The titular refrain is lobbed at Tommy throughout the day. He has answers to everyone's objections (to "There's no money in being a pterodactyl," he rejoins, "People will pay me to pick them up and fly them places"), but the teasing takes its toll. Luckily, Dad knows how to comfort and encourage his imaginative child. Corrigan's bouncy, cartoonlike illustrations feature simply drawn characters, with color and shading providing depth. After an evening of soaring around the backyard together with blankets as wings, Tommy's dad encourages him to follow his inner-pterodactyl dreams. Whether it be dino lovers or fans of prehistoric flying reptiles (as Tommy reminds us, pterodactyls are not dinosaurs), this story speaks to anyone who dreams of the seemingly impossible.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)