Eggasaurus by Jennifer Wagh, illustrated by Hallie Bateman

As I continue on my giant weed/reorg of the picture book neighborhoods, I have come to the conclusion that I am wholly out of sync with the popular trends in publishing. Right now, there is a plethora of social-emotional learning picture books. Many of them are excellent, but they're just not what my audience is looking for and hence what I'm searching for. Looking at my circulation, I need more of the "over-used tropes" picture books that there are supposedly endless supplies of - trucks, trains, dinosaurs, sparkly unicorns, etc. I also need more funny books. Lots and lots more funny books.

I had high hopes of this debut picture book and while it didn't quite live up to my hopes, it was close enough that I'll purchase it and look forward with interest to future titles from this author. Maximus, a brown-skinned kid with an exuberant brush of hair and large, red-rimmed glasses, opens the story - and a box - and grins happily as he takes out a set of colorful dinosaur eggs. His father watches nervously from the dining room table, clearly not happy about this new acquisition.

The story is told through letters from Eggasaurus Inc. explaining there are no refunds and then responding to Maximus' letters with increasing and convoluted enthusiasm, sending him more eggs, surprises, and other ideas for maximizing (that's my own pun ha ha) his use of their services. Maximus' correspondence is accompanied by pictures of him caring for his new pets and eventually winning over his reluctant father to a new way of life with their ever-growing pack of dinosaurs.

The cartoon artwork has a childish look to it, and the dinosaurs definitely do not look realistic, being blocky shapes with splashes of muted colors. The art isn't to my personal taste and I would have preferred a different style, but I think kids will be happy with it. The story does rather abruptly transition from the dad being upset by the dinosaurs to opening a dino-daycare, with no real reason for his change of heart and it will take a slightly older audience to pick up on the more subtle humor of the epistolary exchange, but overall this is a good debut.

Verdict: If, like me, you are looking for more dinosaur and/or funny books, this is a nice addition with the added bonus of two main characters with brown skin. I look forward with interest to new titles from this author.

ISBN: 9781534450066; Published April 2022 by Simon & Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium