Ah, another episode of We Recommend, in which we attempt, by hook or by crook, to find the absolutely perfect book for people who write in. Got a kid in your life who needs a recommendation? Write us with the age, reading tastes, favorite books, and any other relevant (or irrelevant) information, and we'll give it a shot.
Here's an interesting one. Check it out:
My daughter is 5 and has had a dinosaur obsession for well over a
year, especially with her favorite, the T. Rex. We have plenty of
nonfiction books about dinosaurs, but what she really wants are books
that feature girls who are dinosaurs, or girls who have dinosaurs, or
girls who study dinosaurs. We have read No T Rex in the Library, but
I have had a hard time finding other books that feature both dinosaurs
and girls. I am thinking that I might be able to tempt her toward
dragons, since there seem to be more girl/dragon based stuff (I'm
thinking especially of Jane and the Dragon, but there must be others).
Any suggestions, especially for books featuring T Rexes and girls,
would be very much appreciated!
While I fully embrace and understand the mom's attempt to steer her towards dragons, there's something in me that really admires this five-year-old's sticking to her guns: T Rex or the highway!
But that, of course, leaves us with a very real challenge: finding the girl T Rex book of this girl's dreams. I must admit that the first one I thought of was Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct, which is sweet and lovely and all of that, but number one: Edwina looks to be a plant eater, and number two: for someone with a dinosaur obsession, Edwina might be weak sauce, you know? I mean, in my experience the dinosaur-fixated ones tend to mind when there are the wrong kind of plates on its back or a nostril inconsistency, let alone the pearls and handbag that Edwina sports.
Then I thought of The Enormous Egg, but that turns out to be a Stegosaurus, plus a boy. That's when I started getting nervous: what if there aren't really any books about T. Rex with girls in them?
So I basically caved: I went to google. But I came up mostly dry. There was a book called Dinosaur Girl that looked promising, but I never found a copy. There's another book called Dear Tyrannosaurus Rex but I didn't read it, and all I could find was that it was like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, which I am not overly fond of.
So here is my weak offer:
It could work, right? There's a girl, there's a T. Rex, it could happen.
But it's not perfect. She may not be up for a chapter book, no matter how simple. The mother may not be ready to go down the Magic Treehouse road just yet. But other than this, I'm sorry to say, I'm dry.
But you? Readers out there? Surely you can do better for a devoted dinosaur lover like this, right? Something better than the horrific "Girl's Dinosaur Set with pink T. Rex!" set I uncovered (shudder). So please, offer it up in the comments: there's a carnivore-loving five-year-old counting on you.
marcialerner.com 
Maybe a picture book biography of Mary Anning? Or My Dinosaur by Mark Weatherby (it’s OOP, and the dinosaur is an herbivore, but it looks like the right sort of thing)?
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Ooh, Mary Anning. Both my girls were totally fascinated with The Fossil Girl by Catherine Brighton. Not really very dinosaur-y though.
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Pinky and Rex! This is a series of short, buddy-tale chapter books (ala Frog and Toad) by James Howe. Pinky is a boy who loves pink, and Rex is a girl who loves dinosaurs (the T-rex is her favorite).
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I hang my head, because the only thing I have to offer is the CD “A T-Rex called Sue” http://amzn.to/nr9ER2 (which my 8 yr old LOVES), and the PBSKids show Dinosaur Train http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/.
Oh, my daughter also loved the book “When Dinosaurs Came with Everything.” No girls in that one, unfortunately, but there is a T-Rex at one point…
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Ooh, how about Magic School Bus?
http://amzn.to/q211C8
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Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones. By David Adler. Our son loves these mysteries. The dinosaur bones mystery was our entrance point for the series. It features a girl with a photographic memory who solves mysteries.
A picture book with a girl who has her own dinosaur: My dinosaur by Mark Weatherby.
And while the main characters are not girls, the Dinosaur Cove series features two boys who end up in prehistoric times having adventures with dinosaurs. These have also been a hit in our house.
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When I was about 5, one of my very favorite books was Katie and the Dinosaurs, which I have since found out is part of a series and, upon reading a few of the others, is not very good. But I loved it. And T. Rex does make an appearance, I believe.
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What about the Jane Yolen series “How does a dinosaur…”? I know there’s a t-Rex in the “How does a dinosaur say goodnight?”, and the dinosaurs all look very authentic.
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Lulu and the dinosaur by Judith Viorst
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Oops, the title is Lulu and the Brontosauras. My 4 and 7 year old daughters like this book.
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Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. My daughter will be thrilled! I have resorted to telling her my own T. Rex stories, which is fun, but sometimes I run out of ideas. The overall lack of dinosaur/little girl pairings was making me sad. Someone should write more books about girls and their theropods. My daughter isn’t the only girl who loves them!
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In the non-fiction world, there are a couple of books about the dinosaur Sue (the T-Rex at the Field Museum in Chicago). She’s named after the woman who discovered her, researcher Sue Hendrix. And also the Field sells a very fun CD of songs about Sue. My son ADORED all books and songs and anything else about Sue at the same age–so we highly recommend them but then also a trip to see her in person! Also at least one picture book with a sweet story about a mouse and Sue.
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Named-Sue-Century-Reader/dp/0439099838/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Named-Sue-Worlds-Complete/dp/0439099854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313721710&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Mouse-Dinosaur-Named-Sue/dp/0439099846/ref=pd_sim_b_3
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The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibley Lampman is about two twins (boy and girl) that find a Stegosaurus on their ranch.
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My daughter at 6 loved the Dinosaur Cove series. I am not sure if it was boys or girls in the book. She has never thought twice about the gender of the character in the books she reads more the content and writing if it is interesting. Good luck
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Thank you for this! I am also the mother of a dinosaur-obsessed girl (age 4 1/2) and I am noting all of these.
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My dino obsessed daughter at age six loved a book by Dick King Smith called dinosaur trouble. It is about a pteradactyl (boy) and an apatosaurus (girl). It is a short chapter book.
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Dinosaur Bob & His Adventures with the Family Lazardo by William Joyce
It’s a family with parents, & two girls & a boy, but one of the girls is named Zelda, which I think is fantastic, & the pictures are amazing. So, though it won’t solve the problem, hopefully it would be diverting. It’s a perennial favorite here, among kids and parents. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll dig it out now . . . .
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