I really liked this book because the ending was unexpected. While reading this book about Mrs. Toggle preparing to have a student that is a dinosaur, I was predicting that it would end with a talking dinosaur in her classroom. However, it ended with a girl name Dina Sawyer which I thought was a clever twist to the story. Reading it, I thought it would be another children's book with fictional, talking animals however it ended up being a little more realistic. I really like the level of writing for this book. It is not too challenging, but it's not an incredibly easy read. It's the type of book for readers who are about to start reading chapter books but are not quite there yet. It has a good amount of text and quotes on each page that a chapter book would. The illustrations go well with the story and reader could possibly follow along with the story by just looking at the pictures. Ultimately, I think the main idea of the story is to not judge someone based on their appearance. Although the new student didn't end up being a dinosaur, the students, who thought their new classmate would be a dinosaur, were willing to learn about dinosaurs by reading about it in the library and finding ways to make it fit in and welcomed. They didn't judge the dinosaur based on it's size or appearance; they were just excited to have a new classmate. ( )

I really liked this book. I think it is really cute. One thing I really liked about this book is the illustrations. To back-track a bit, Mrs. Toggle finds out she's getting a new student and she hears that it's a dinosaur. So, she is freaking out and goes to the library to read all about dinosaur's with her class. In the illustrations, she leaves one of the books open and the dinosaur starts to come off of the page and starts to follow them. You see the dinosaur get bigger and bigger as it comes off the page and near the end the students "notice" the dinosaur and start riding on it. However, at the end when the principal introduces Dina Sawyer, the big dinosaur in the classroom fades. I also liked the consideration from the students, for example, when the students were reading books in the library, one of the children says, "some dinosaurs liked to live in groups with other dinosaurs," and another student says, "our dinosaur might be lonely, we should be nice to it and not choose it last for dogeball teams." Another student then says, "Yes, it will be the only reptile in our class. Being different can be difficult. We could get a snake for our room to keep the dinosaur company!" Finally, another student says, "I don't think Mrs. Toggle wants a snake, we could get a turtle instead!" So from all of this you can see that the students are very open to having the new "student" come and they are being considerate of its feelings as well as Mrs. Toggle's.

The big message here is to always make sure you listen closely and ask for clarification when needed. If Mrs. Toggle would have asked for clarification in the beginning that Dina Sawyer was coming and not a dinosaur, it would have saved her from a lot of stress. Also, in the beginning they tell the janitor that the desk he brought will not be big enough, because they think an actual dinosaur is coming and at the very end of the book, the last illustration that you see is the janitor bringing a huge desk to Mrs. Toggle's room. Mrs. Toggle also refers to asking for clarification at the end where she says, "Dina, before we begin our lessons, I will tell you one thing I insist on. If I say something that doesn't make sense, ask questions. If you don't understand me the first time, ask me to repeat." This goes back to learning her lesson in the beginning where she should have asked the principal for verification. ( )

This book starts out with a worried teacher getting a phone call from the principle telling her she will have a new student, a dinosaur. The students and the teacher get all worried about how to adapt to having a dinosaur as a classmate. Mrs. Toggle and her class get started right away on preparing for their new student. The janitor builds a new Dinosaur size desk, and the librarian gives them all books to read about dinosaurs. They learn all sorts of interesting facts about dinosaurs. Then to the lunch lady they went with new ideas for the lunch menu. Finally the new student arrives and to Mrs. Toggle’s surprise it’s a little girl named Dina Sawyer not a giant dinosaur. Mrs. Toggle then informs her class that if she says something that sounds strange to ask questions.

This is a great book that lets the imagination run wild. The thought of a new dinosaur student and all the things it would need allows the children to explore fun possibilities. It is also full of interesting dinosaur facts.

1. This would be a great book to read to introduce dinosaurs. All the facts from the library reading the children do is very informative.
2. This could also be used to introduce a misunderstanding lesson. It shows that everyone makes mistakes and to always question things.

This book was really cute and entertaining. It was so funny how the teacher thought her new student was going to be a dinosaur so she has the whole class go research dinosaurs in the library and prepare for it. It turns out it was a big misunderstanding, because the new student's name was Dina Sawyer! For a fun activity, you could have your class draw or write down ideas of what they would do if they were to get a dinosaur in their classroom. ( )