Laurie Berkner is even fun in print. We sang and marched to this one in storytime and the kids loved it. Of course, it would be best shared with Laurie Berkner's musical soundtrack, but in a pinch, you can sing it yourself. Kids will still enjoy it.

http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com ( )

A band of young dinosaurs leave their parents in the morning to stomp across the Earth in order to make it flat. The stomp and chant to lunch and up sides on mountains until they get tired. Then they sleep in caves until something rumbles underneath them and wakes them up. On their run home they continue to chant their song. ( )

Better listen to the song again ... ( )

Using her song, "We Are the Dinosaurs," as a starting point, children's musician and author Laurie Berkner presents this picture-book adventure featuring a group of young dinosaurs who venture out on the nearby mountain for a day of hiking and fun. The main text of the song is augmented by the dialogue amongst the dinosaurs, and the accompanying artwork by Ben Clanton is done in pencil, acrylic and watercolor.

Truth be told, I had never heard of this song before picking up We Are the Dinosaurs, so I had no auditory point of reference whilst reading. I suspect that this affected my enjoyment level, and that I would have been less indifferent if I actually knew the tune. That said, I do tend to feel that if a song doesn't tell enough of a story to stand up by itself textually, it probably isn't the best selection for a picture-book. I've noticed recently that many of the song-based picture-books I've picked up (Bob Dylan's If Dogs Run Free comes to mind in this respect) were less than impressive. Recommended primarily to those who are already fans of the song. ( )