by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 07, 2010

It's the first children's book I've ever seen that mentions the internet. It's the little boy from "Patrick's Dinosaurs," and he's looking up information with his brother on the internet. "Ask where the dinosaurs are now," Patrick asks enthusiastically. But his brother insists it's too late for web research, and leaves Patrick alone wondering about the answer.

It's also the first children's book that mentions a screen saver - since Patrick lays awake watching its pattern of little stars. And then the computer beeps, its screen flickers and a dinosaur appears on its monitor. Its friendly, freckled face has magically come to answer Patrick's question. Where are the dinosaurs? "We're here watching you."

There's a bright light from a flying saucer beaming through his windows, and its hatch door opens under a blinking sign. ("Welcome, Patrick.") The spaceship is filled with switches and dials, Patrick discovers, and it belongs to the dinosaur who'd visited him on his monitor. By the next page they're flying off together to the stars, and soon they've landed on a distant planet, near a school of young dinosaurs. The youngest class holds a banner that reads "We Love You, Patrick," and there's even a cheerleader squad shaking their pompons.

Carol Carrick wrote the book's imaginative text, and it was illustrated by her husband Donald Carrick. His pictures are simple and colorful, depicting the dinosaurs as happy smiling shapes - usually without teeth. But Carol still provides the names of each of the dinosaurs that the boy sees - there's Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops.
It turns out that one dinosaur had searched for Patrick on the internet, and then brought him along for "show and tell."

The book's jacket notes that Carol has been praised for mixing scientific facts into her improbable stories, and this one does it in a clever way. The other students in the dinosaur ask Patrick questions about his life on earth - but they suggest things that dinosaurs would wnt to know. For example, they ask what's it like being warm-blooded? (And also: did you hatch from an egg?) And the dinosaurs all say "Ugh!" when they discover the little boy eats hot dogs.

"In our school we are plant eaters."

It's a cheerful story, with only a tiny bit of drama, after a recess of playing dinosaur soccer. Suddenly a shadow falls across Patrick, and he feels the breath of a Tyrannosaurus rex on his neck. Patrick rushes back into the spaceship, and his dinosaur friend lifts off to whisk him to safety. And all the other dinosaurs run to a field, waving and shouting "Come back soon!"

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