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Danny & The Dinosaur
Danny & The Dinosaur
Danny & The Dinosaur
Audiobook17 minutes

Danny & The Dinosaur

Written by Syd Hoff

Narrated by Ruis Woertendyke

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

This is the story of a boys friendship with a dinosaur and how they spend one happy day together.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 1990
ISBN9780545257893
Danny & The Dinosaur
Author

Syd Hoff

Syd Hoff has given much pleasure to children everywhere as the author and illustrator of numerous children’s books, including the favorite I Can Read books Sammy the Seal, The Horse in Harry’s Room, and the Danny and the Dinosaur books. Born and raised in New York City, he studied at the National Academy of Design. His cartoons were a regular feature in the New Yorker after he sold his first cartoon to that magazine at the age of eighteen. His work also appeared in many other magazines, including Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post, and in a nationally syndicated daily feature.

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Reviews for Danny & The Dinosaur

Rating: 3.7847458101694915 out of 5 stars
4/5

295 ratings12 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I grew up reading Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, a beginning reader originally published in 1958 as part of the prestigious I Can Read series, and have many fond memories of Danny's day of adventure with his prehistoric friend. Who hasn't fantasized about having a pet dinosaur, or wondered what those fossilized skeletons in the museum would look like, if they suddenly came alive?Recently, a post on one of my favorite children's literature blogs, American Indians in Children's Literature, drew my attention to the problematic nature of the illustration in which Danny, at the museum for the day, is looking at a display containing an Indian, a bear, and an Eskimo. I was surprised, because although I had always found it odd and inappropriate that the achievements of non-European peoples - Native Americans, Pacific Islanders - would be collected in a museum devoted to "natural" history, while similar artifacts from European peoples are labeled "art," and find their way to a different sort of museum, I had no recollection of this illustration, from my childhood reading. Needless to say, I decided to track down a copy and reread, especially when - by sheer coincidence - we chose Danny and the Dinosaur as one of our July dinosaur-themed reads over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong.So... does this single illustration - which unquestionably hearkens back to outdated notions of racial hierarchy (some of them still with us, unfortunately) in which Europeans are somehow more fully "human," while non-Europeans are in the same category as animals - ruin the story? Will it harm the young reader? Is Professor Debbie Reese right? Should Danny and the Dinosaur be pulled from shelves? My answers are, respectively: Yes and No, Yes, Yes, and No.To wit: I don't know that it's fair to say that the illustration "ruins" the story, since I can only speak for myself, but I do know that I will never be entirely comfortable with this title again. I will always be thinking of that illustration, what it means, and what harm it might do. Which brings me to: yes, I think images like this, for all their seeming innocence - perhaps because of them? - can do harm. Perhaps not lasting, terrible harm, all on their own, but if combined with enough similar material, not insignificant harm either. Meaning, of course, that yes, Professor Reese is right. She's right to point out this illustration, and she's right to question it. But finally, no, no I don't think, as she does, that it should be pulled from the library shelves. Leaving aside my passionate belief that the library should be a repository for the printed word, not some revolving-door collection based on popularity (or even morality), I also think that titles such as this fade away when they have no more significance, and it's worse than useless trying to forbid them. Worse, because we give things immense power by forbidding them...I gave this three stars, because it would be untruthful, in light of my childhood love of it, to give it less. But although I wouldn't support its removal from the library, I also wouldn't use it to teach children to read, I wouldn't recommend it as a bookseller, and, should I ever have children of my own, I won't be bringing it into my home.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Danny goes to the museum to meet an unusal friend, a dinosaur. They become instant friends and spend the day out playing. They eat ice cream, play hide and seek, and stroll around town. This is a book about friendship in the most unusal places with the person/thing you least expect.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Danny visits the museum and when he gets to the dinosaur display a real dinosaur pops out and asks Danny to play with him. So off they go through the town having lots of fun ending up playing hide 'n' seek with the neighbourhood children but as sunset comes along everyone must go home including the dinosaur who must get back to the museum. This is one of the original "I Can Read" books that has stood the test of time. What little boy doesn't go through the dinosaur stage? This silly story is a load of fun and can be enjoyed by any age. Syd Hoff was one of the great children's author/illustrators and his works will never go out of print. Some of the PC persuasion may find the display of the "Indian" and "Eskimo" offensive, but the rest of us will enjoy a good old-fashioned timeless classic. One word of note though, buy yourself an old secondhand copy if possible. The new reprints have been recolourized with dark full-colour illustrations rather than the light pencil crayon effect of the originals.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's not as charming as all that, and definitely written in a different era - no non-white characters, zoo animals in cages, that sort of thing. There's nothing wrong with that - no sense judging it on our mores - but as it's not overly interesting either I can't sensibly give it more than three stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Danny takes one of the dinosaurs from the museum out and they have a lot of fun exploring and enjoying themselves. The dinosaur is helpful and fun to be with, but at the end of the day he has to go home.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My son loves to listen to this book when he is falling asleep
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful children's book! It's a classic and my kids love listening to it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I don't remember reading this as a child. It was a fun story and I see why it is still around. It is rather long for an easy reader, but it flows well.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This story, by Syd Hoff, was not a favorite of mine among all of the childrens literature that I have read so far. It is an "I Can Read" book, which should be used for children who are still learning sight words and practicing their fluency. The story has a simple plot, a boy who find a dinosaur that comes to life in a museum and spends the day playing with the boy. The illustrations are very simple paintings, that will allow students to focus more so on what they are reading than what is in the pictures. This story should not be used a whole-class read aloud or part of a whole-class lesson.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great early reader! It's about a little boy befriending a huge dinosaur, leading to them doing tons of fun stuff together. What 5 year old wouldn't love that? It's imaginative enough that my kid kept reading through all 64 pages without wanting to stop except to admire the fun, colorful pictures. I can see why it's a classic.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Danny and the Dinosaur, by Syd Hoff was one of my favorite books as a child. My mother used to read this book to me all the time, but now that I am older I read the book and really I was kind of disappointed. I searched and searched for a main idea, and really the book didn’t really seem to have any purpose other than to entertain, so I don’t think this book has a big idea. I will say I very much enjoyed the pictures in this book, mostly because they brought back memories, but also because they are well done and very vibrant in color. The images also work very well with the store, allowing me to flip the pages, not read, and still understand what is going on in the book. One thing I did not like were the characters, not that the main character is bad, but that fact that there is no diversity. Books from this time are full of different kinds of children, from handicap, to Hispanic, to white, or black children's books are full of different characters. This one of the other hand has no cultural diversity, and every character is a white boy or white girl of the same height and size, none of which are handicap. This doesn’t make the book bad in my eyes, just means that it is really out of date and maybe they should change the images up to catch up with the times. Another part of this story I didn’t really like was the lack of plot. Not much happens in this story, and what does happen has no ups or downs. The story likes a climax and in turn lacks a resolution, which also makes the story really have no meaning. Even with all of this being said I still love the book and in some years will read it to my child.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Syd Hoff’s Danny and The Dinosaur is a book all about adventure and friendship. After a morning at the museum, Danny and his new found friend, the dinosaur, spend a fun-filled afternoon together. They play together, help others, and play with Danny’s friends. At the end of the day, the dinosaur has to return to the museum, and Danny goes home remembering his wonderful day. This book is such a great beginning reader. The sentences are short and the illustrations are fun. I most like that the reader’s imagination can run wild with Danny and his dinosaur as they go through the town. I think it would be so much fun to read this to a class and then have the kids each write and illustrate their own version.