Okon, Ben. (2026). Dinos Love Donuts. Flamingo Books.
*Activity sheets available at the bottom of the post!
I always feel guilty when I read a book and I don’t like it. Writing a book is hard! Picture books included. Same with illustrating! And while dinosaurs are one of my favorite things in the world, and who can’t find a donut to love, I didn’t love this book. Though it is touted as being right up the alley for someone who liked Dragons Love Tacos (and I do), I didn’t find a lot in the way of similarities, other than food and reptilian type creatures.
First, the book is a little long…as in wordy, for a picture book. I actually found myself wanting to skip a couple pages in the middle. I don’t typically do that. Sure, it could be a particularly rough brain day, or the fact that I didn’t have time to pick-up caffeine this morning, but, I don’t think the caffeine is going to make me like this book any more. There is just a LOT of text, and while the author tries to make it rhyme, sometimes it is REALLY forced and uncomfortable.
Second, there is also a plot spot that confused me (which means it’s also likely to confuse a kid) where the dinosaurs’ baker is out of donuts, and that is going to ruin the dance they are planning because the dancing makes them hungry. Then all of a sudden, the narrator is talking to a dinosaur who made a donut for the dance that is huge, and therefore now he’s probably invited to the dance. Then it moves on to how all dinosaurs hate donut holes cuz they look like rocks. Then at the very last page, the say oh, maybe the reader will be invited to the dance, almost like a “whoops…almost forgot about this element of my story!” I mean it is all related but feels kind of like non-sequiturs.
SPEAKING of 10 cent vocabulary words, there are also some words used like “trite”, or abbreviations and colloquialisms (rep, razor tight) that probably didn’t need to be here. I am all for learning vocabulary and phrases in picture books, but I don’t think that those are necessarily age appropriate. The author also used “grassy knoll” but I thought that one was fine. It seems like the publisher or the author understood this was going to be a hurdle because they included a “food for thought” page at the end where it asked what the reader did when they found a new word, and if the book got easier the second or third time they read it and then related it to something in the reader’s life that seems hard but gets easier the more they try. Touché! But that is a tool that is supposed to be used in reference to the story itself (as in a lesson learned) not necessarily the way it is told. I feel like it is almost reader shaming, like if they don’t get it, there is something wrong with them. Really off-putting.
The illustrations for me were a little lackluster, and lacked depth, though there were a couple I liked, ironically this one was probably one of the better ones, in my opinion, but the text could be terrifying for a young kid.
Oh well. Can’t win (like) them all. The activity sheets from the publisher though are SUPER cute. See below.
The publisher recommends this book for ages 3-5 years. It’s also part of a food feast series “Santa Loves Snow Cones,” “Pirates Love Pizza.” Etc.
Activity Sheets:
Original Source: Dinos Love Donuts | Penguin Random House International Sales
