Tuesday 30 October 2012

The Dinosaur's Packed Lunch by Jacqueline Wilson (Children's, 5 years +, 9/10)


August 2011, Corgi Pups
72 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Themes: single parent family, life without a mother, being different to other children, getting in trouble at school, school trips, mysterious goings on, lots of humour


Dinah feels sad. Her class has gone on a school trip to see the dinosaurs at the museum, and everyone else has a tasty packed lunch - except Dinah. Until a funny new friend decides to help . . .

Soon Dinah has a very special packed lunch - but there is an even bigger surprise in store!

Nayuleska's thoughts

Pictures are said to be worth 1000 words. They certainly say a great deal about the life Dinah has, the life she wants, and the life she gets for a while. The large plot twist was totally unexpected and made me gasp. I liked what happened afterwards because Dinah managed to fit in by not fitting in. I think the adult in me over thought the ending because I expected some repercussion for what happened but there was none in this 9/10 read.

You can find out more on Jacqueline's website.

Suggested read

For anothe tale where a girl gets whisked away from life try The Monster Story-Teller, also by Jacqueline.

No comments: