Edwina The dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct

Mo Willems

Book - 2006

Edwina is well-known in her neighborhood, she plays with kids, she bakes delicious chocolate chip cookies and helps old ladies cross the street. She is well-loved by everyone except for one person: Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie. He knows for a fact that dinosaurs are extinct and tries to convince everyone that they are. What happens when Edwina finds out?

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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
New York : Hyperion 2006.
Language
English
Main Author
Mo Willems (-)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
unpaged : col. ill
ISBN
9780786837489
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Willems takes a break from his Pigeon chronicles to write about a dinosaur named Edwina. Everyone loves Edwina, except class know-it-all Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, who tries to convince everyone that dinosaurs are extinct. No one listens, except Edwina, who is shocked. Eventually Edwina decides that she doesn't care, and by then . . . neither does Reginald. In true if-you-can't-beat-'em, join-'em fashion, the final scene shows Edwina baking cookies for a much happier Reginald. Pacing is varied to highlight the more dramatic scenes, with much of the drama provided by Reginald in a way resembling Pigeon trying to get his way. Set against plain, light-blue backdrops, the pictures, in Willem's familiar cartoon style, show Reginald up to his dastardly deeds as well as characters in the classroom, on the playground, and in the park. Children will have fun searching the art for hidden pictures of Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny. Consider this an enjoyable visit to a happy community that has no room for curmudgeons. --Randall Enos Copyright 2006 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Matronly Edwina, a lichen-green T. Rex wearing a beribboned straw bonnet and toting a lavender handbag on her claw, loves doing community service. Crayony sketches show her fixing a street lamp (no ladder necessary) and letting kids slide down her back. "Everybody loved Edwina... except Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie." Reginald, a precocious boy with malicious tilted eyebrows, passionately delivers a report on " `Things That Are Extinct.' Specifically, dinosaurs." His classmates, whose doodles of Edwina hang on the bulletin board, swiftly contradict him and run outside to have some of the dino's homemade cookies. Yet Reginald doesn't give up (and another book might present such stubbornness as admirable). His desperate efforts to be heard finally attract Edwina's maternal solicitude, and in a bombastic pantomime sequence, he presents her with "the truth about dinosaurs." Afterward, "Reginald felt fantastic! No one had ever listened to him so well for so long," and Edwina "knew she was extinct." Even better, disillusionment doesn't change Edwina. "She just didn't care. And, by then... neither did Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie." The fellow has finally found a friend. In the closing image, Edwina bakes cookies for her new pal. Like Willems's Leonardo the Terrible Monster, this is a tale about craving attention, but the reassuring tone and expert pacing will win over readers. More important, the book comments on polite debate and helps raise useful questions. Is there such a thing as too much knowledge? Can popular notions be challenged? Should we listen to others, even when we don't agree? For Edwina, ignorance is bliss, but awareness is good, too. Ages 4-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-Edwina the dinosaur helps out in her community, bakes chocolate-chip cookies, and everyone loves her, except for Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, the class know-it-all, who is positive that dinosaurs are extinct. When Reginald makes it his mission to force the townspeople to accept that fact, no one bothers to listen to him, except for Edwina. She listens patiently while Reginald explains that she simply should not exist! By the time he's finished, Edwina is convinced, but she just doesn't care. That's when Reginald realizes that he doesn't really care either, and the two of them go off to make chocolate-chip cookies. Mo Willems's excellent story (Hyperion, 2006) is narrated with humor and passion by Mo and Cher Willems. His cartoon-style illustrations are animated and the result is spectacular. There's also a jazzy theme song about Edwina, who is decked out in a straw hat and pearls. Be sure to have children search the pictures for appearances by Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon! The DVD also features a short segment in which Edwina and Reginald share the recipe for chocolate-chip cookies as well as a terrific interview in which Willems discusses his inspirations for Edwina and his love of animation. Children will be delighted!-Jenny Ventling, Dayton Metro Library, OH (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

(Preschool) Young Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie knows for a fact that dinosaurs are extinct and refuses to acknowledge sweet and gentle Edwina, a dinosaur who undeniably exists. The pearl-wearing, purse-carrying Edwina, who brings joy to the community through baking cookies and playing with children, is beloved by all but the surly, know-it-all Reginald. Willems's funny text and cartoon illustrations convey Reginald's mounting frustration with everyone's refusal to accept his argument as well as just how much Edwina means to the townspeople, who are untroubled by logical inconsistencies. Willems also gives readers permission to accept this inconsistency, because even though of course dinosaurs are extinct, it really doesn't matter in the book's silly-fun fictional world. It's more important to cheer as the kindhearted Edwina shows Reginald that sometimes sentiment is more powerful than fact, and, as Willems shows us, that both the Edwinas and Reginalds in this world deserve to be respected for what they know and do. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A fey foray into existentialism from an emerging master of whimsy. Edwina is the nicest possible dinosaur, who bakes chocolate-chip cookies for everyone and helps little old ladies across the street. Everyone loves her except Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, the worst kind of know-it-all who takes it upon himself to convince Edwina that she is extinct and thereby to force her out of existence. When his campaign to persuade everyone else falls flat, it is left to the perpetually sweet Edwina to lend a sympathetic ear. How does she take the news of her impossible existence? She, like everyone but Reginald, just doesn't care. A muted palette and two-dimensional backgrounds firmly situate Willems's cartoons in an imaginary world of childhood, Edwina herself a masterful creation complete with hat, pearls and handbag, Reginald and the other humans Feiffer-esque in the expressiveness of their body language. Is this a sly jab in the ribs at another preternaturally kind T. rex? Who cares? The just-right resolution is a tribute to the child's rock-solid faith in how the world should be, not how it really is. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.