How to Be a T. Rex

Possibly a book for young dinosaur-lovers, possibly a story for parents and teachers who want something with a little lesson embedded among darkly-outlined figures that fill the page, labelled drawings, and speech balloons.

The tale is told in the first person by Little Sal who declares to her classmates that she wants to be a T. Rex when she grows up. After all, a T. Rex’s teeth are awesome (Sal’s could be pointier), and a T. Rex roars all the time (Sal “roars: never”).

In spite of having this idea pooh-poohed by her older brother, Sal is determined that dream will become reality. She says:

And that night I put my mind to it. I concentrated as hard as I could…
so hard that my eyes squinched shut and my cheeks puffed out…
And guess what I became?
A T. REX! And guess what else?
SURPRISE! Being a T. Rex is AMAZING!

It is pretty neat being super fierce and not caring what anyone thinks about you, whatever your behaviour.

But there’s a catch. Sal discovers that how a T. Rex naturally carries on and what goes down well with those around are often two incongruent notions. People get mad when you aren’t nice to them, and even your dog is unhappy when all you do is roar.

Who would have thought being a T. Rex would have as many downsides
as being human? That’s pretty much the worst.
Is it too much to ask to be 100% awesome 100% of the time?

Compromise is the order of the day, and therein lies a not-so-subtle message about being strong and standing up for yourself while still respecting others and their feelings. The title is a bit misleading: this is not about how to be a T. Rex so much as how to adopt some of the T. Rex’s better attributes while still remaining a human being who does not alienate everyone.

Author North, who is better known for his adult satire, left me wanting a little less slangy style of delivery and a lot less nose-picking, a recurring motif about which I will say no more.

Mike Lowery’s casual illustrative style, with its four-square human and dinosaur figures on unadorned backgrounds, is familiar from his other books (Gingerbread Man Loose in the School; A Squiggly Story ). The colour palette of olive green, blue and coral is pleasing without being eye-poppingly bright. Having the text being set entirely in large uppercase letters, which one presumes was a design choice of the artist, makes How to be a T. Rex seem a very loud book.

Individual primary readers may have fun with How to be a T. Rex, but the layout does not lend itself to sharing with a group. An additional selection for primary school and public library collections.