Too big to hide

In this sequel to A Mysterious Egg (2016), narrator Frank and his cousin Sam are spending the summer in Wyoming with their grandparents and trying to keep a secret: they are raising a baby Wyomingasaurus dinosaur. It doesn't take long for a five-year-old visitor to spot Peanut and claim that she has a dinosaur, too. Whether or not that's true, you have to wonder: how long can you hide a growing dinosaur? This chapter book combines a high-interest topic with straightforward, down-to-earth storytelling. While the Dino Files series' premise may be the most memorable thing about the tale, many young readers will enjoy this accessible fantasy.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist

The live dinosaur that "future paleontologist" Frank Mudd helped to hatch in series opener A Mysterious Egg (2016) gets a companion in this helter-skelter sequel. It seems that the Starks, renowned documentary filmmakers who have arrived at the Wyoming dig where Frank is summering, have a secret. "It's a rapper," their 5-year-old daughter, Mary, confides as she sneaks Frank into her parents' trailer to meet Mike, a turkey-sized Velociraptor from (as Mary puts it) "All-Straw-La." As if caring for Peanut, the frisky dino from the previous episode, while keeping it out of the public eye isn't already hard enough! How will Mike and Peanut (a vegetarian) get along? Can the Starks be persuaded to give up their brightly feathered pet? McAnulty stirs a sudden tornado into her simply told tale for extra drama, and she closes with a disastrous incident that portends exposure in a future episode. Budding paleontologists like Frank will enjoy the dino facts that he threads through his narrative as well as the appended glossary. Though race is not indicated in the text, Boldt's spot illustrations depict the Starks as African-American; Frank and his family are white. The plot thickens in this easy-reading follow-up. (Science fantasy. 7-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.