Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish (Puffin Books) 
Customer Ratings: - I loved it when I was a child and now by son does too.. I bought this because my son loves dinosaurs and I remember it from my childhood. He loves it to the extent that I now know every word off by heart and we have it at least once every bedtime. Beautiful pictures and a wonderful message too. Can t fault it. Foreman is an excellent children s author and illustrator.
- The Rubbish Fantastic!. A wonderful book that brings back many personal childhood memories! Extremely thought-provoking and accentuated by illustrations that are as memorable as they are loveable. This short children s book is clearly to be enjoyed by Years 1 and 2, but as ever is dependant upon ability.
The story at face value is of a businessman s new ambition to build a rocket and fly to the moon. The process of building the rocket severely damages the delicate forest and grassland surrounding him and his company, but he succeeds in his aim nonetheless. But when he lands on the moon, he realises that there is nothing much to see... apart from Earth.
The moral to the book is then spiced up with living dinosaurs that decide to break up all the rubbish and clutter that the man has made. This element to the book then suggests to the child that we should all appreciate how fragile and beautiful our planet is and that we should take responsibility in looking after it.
The strong environmental message was ground-breaking for its original release in 1972 and is still as powerful as it was back then. It has been argued by critics that the underlying thoughts are bland and an attempt to condition children into becoming green. Personally, I see this modern fable to be a magnificent accomplishment that should be celebrated at every opportunity and is a great basis to make future generations conscious of mankind s role in looking after the planet.
Additionally, working with the over-sized edition is a great way to further enhance the interaction between the class and teacher. - Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish (Puffin Books). In response to that rubbish review by J.S Meins.
What a shocking review of a beautiful book! I could not disagree with this person s point of view more and urge those of you with a desire to leave beautiful books in the memories of your children..buy it! I fondly remember this book being read to me when I was a small child, and now as a 33 and a half year old, I was over the moon to rediscover it so I can buy it for my son. My memories of this book and story are of being intoxicated by the pictures of lush tropical forest pushing up through tarmac, breaking up roads and bursting with exotic flowers of vivid colours turning the mess left by the human race back into the utopia it was before we spolit it all. A subject even more poinient in todays car crazy polluting world. I thumbed this favoured book so much as a child it fell to pieces.Enchanting illustrations and story for a 5, 6 or 7 year old,I was one of them so I should know. Just don t listen to the cynical and unromantic codswollop of previous review, ha! - Good story with a green message, dinosaurs, a rocket & softly retro pictures. This is a smashing and thought-provoking story which I have enjoyed with my children (6,5,3). The pictures are bright and friendly and I especially liked their rather retro feel, a cross-between 70s mixed with David McKee s style. And then I looked at the copyright information to discover that this book was actually first published in 1972 and that s why it has the feel of picture books from my childhood. I m not surprised though that it remains in print today - the message remains good, and is probably even more relevant to today s children, more timely given the growth of the Green movement in the 21st century.
In a nutshell, a man sees a star and sets his sights upon it. In order to reach it he has to build a rocket and in doing so destroys his own environment with deforestation to provide fuel for factories, factories everywhere belching out filthy smoke, and piles of waste heaped high. The man reaches the faraway star but it is empty and devoid of life and beauty. All he can see is his own planet far away in the distance. Meanwhile on earth the heat of the smouldering rubbish awakens dormant dinosaurs who emerge and are appalled at the state of the planet. They set about cleaning up and foliage and flowers repopulate the Earth. When the man returns he sees that the Earth is a beautiful place and learns valuable lessons about looking after the place you live for everyone to enjoy. A great book for an at-home bookcase or a useful resource for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children (ages 2-7).
- A book that really touches children. I have read and taught with this book with children from 3 to 8 years old and, without exception, they have been fascinated and moved by the book as well as stimulated to think about the effects of all our rubbish on the environment.
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