The Littlest Dinosaur Naughty Rock
by Camilla Reid

Release Date: 28th Jun 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978 1 4088 0266 3
RRP: £5.99

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We loved The Littlest Dinosaur and the subsequent The Littlest Dinosaur’s Big Adventure was a lovely follow-on. This time, however, the series has a new author – Camilla Reid. You might recognise her from the brilliant Lulu series. To our immense relief, Foreman still lends his skill to the wonderful illustrations that really made this little dinosaur series so special.

In The Littlest Dinosaur and the Naughty Rock keeps to the moralistic messages we have come to expect, however, as the title suggests, it comes with a different slant. This time, the littlest dinosaur is not behaving himself; quite the opposite in fact. I’m not sure that reading how he is rude to his father, shouts at his siblings and throws his lunch into a muddy puddle is necessarily a good thing – who wants to give their toddlers ideas on how to misbehave?

But it is the reactions of his family members that I found the most unsettling. Perhaps there are parents who would not think twice of telling their children to go away when they want attention; instead rolling over to continue a morning nap. Maybe there are parents who condone siblings wilfully playing a game that prohibits one individual and then shouting about being shouted at. Ok, I get that throwing food is not acceptable under any circumstances and warrants the “naughty rock” treatment. But, I just didn’t feel comfortable with the underlying message that fathers should be allowed to lie about on their backsides and brother and sisters can deliberately exclude a sibling with repercussion. It feels wrong somehow. I understand what the author is attempting to achieve. It’s obvious that the message here is that bad behaviour has consequences that your little one won’t like. Thankfully, it ends with a clear, upbeat and positive note: saying “sorry” goes a long way, and more importantly for this narrative, showing that family forgives easily and quickly.

The illustrations are as ever, a delight. The colours are vibrant, alluring and have a real warmth that can often be lacking in children’s books. This isn’t a bad book; I just think that the author maybe didn’t consider how the narrative could be (mis)interpreted, which is a shame as making a point to toddlers that being naughty has negative consequences is definitely a message that parents would love to get across to their cheeky little monkeys.

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