Dino-Gro

by Matt Myers

AR Test

At A Glance

Interest Level

4-7

Entertainment
Score

Reading Level
1.2

Number of Pages
48

Cole is very excited about his new Dino-Gro toy. He can’t wait for it to reach its full size! But when Dino-Gro becomes much larger than intended, Cole goes so far as to put Dino-Gro on a liquid-free diet and an exercise regimen, which don’t seem to make a difference! As Dino-Gro becomes so big that he can’t fit in the house, Cole learns that growing up and getting bigger can have advantages too, even if you’re not a dinosaur.

Dino-Gro is a super sweet story about Cole and his Dino-Gro. When the cute blue dinosaur first begins to grow, Cole has fun playing with him. But soon Dino-Gro is so big that he can’t fit into the house. This makes Cole and Dino-Grow sad, but when Cole gets stuck in a tree house during a terrible storm, Dino-Gro’s size makes him the perfect dino to save Cole. In the end, Cole realizes that “Dino-Gro stayed big. And that was just fine.”

Cole and Dino-Gro’s relationship is heartwarming and humorous. Readers will laugh when Cole tries to get Dino-Gro to stay out of the water, and they will cry when Dino-Gro leaves because he is too big to stay in the house. However, the conclusion will have readers cheering when the two friends are reunited. Plus, the ending has a silly surprise.

Dino-Gro is a quick and fun story to read out loud. Dino-Gro is an adorably cute blue dinosaur who has wonderfully expressive facial expressions. In addition, readers will have fun seeing Dino-Gro interact with Cole and his family. The large illustrations use primary colors and cartoonish illustrations that are packed with emotion. Each page has one to four short sentences that use easy vocabulary. Matt Myers’ humor shines through in both the text and the illustrations.

Young readers will have so much fun reading Dino-Gro that they will want to read it again and again. Even though no one wanted Dino-Gro to grow so big and so strong, it is these very characteristics that make him the hero of the story. Dino-Gro uses the concepts of little and big to humorously show that growing up includes changing, which is “just fine.”

Sexual Content 