Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Dinosaurs' Halloween
Liza Donnelly · 2014
70/100
👍 Worth It
Donnelly's warm, gently funny Halloween story has earned its longevity — the real-dinosaur-as-trick-or-treater twist is the kind of simple, clever idea that lands perfectly for young readers, and her New Yorker background shows in the lightness of touch. The plot is thin even for a picture book and the 1987 original wasn't pushing the form, but as a read-aloud for Halloween it's charming and completely stress-free for parents. The educational dinosaur glossary is a nice bonus.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety98
substance55
craft72
originality65
accuracy72
hype75
age-fit92
human-eye70
Penny’s verdict70
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