Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur!

Rating:
Summary: Danny +Dino
Review: In the second of the Danny and the dinosaur books, Danny goes back to the museum to invite the dinosaur to his birthday party. The dinosaur is glad to accept, and, as it turns out, today is his birthday too!

The story flows better than Danny and the dinosaur, and the few conversations are more believable. Danny and the dinosaur have changed slightly, and the pictures don't have quite the same style as in the first book. The pictures are cute, even if the solid colors they are filled in with make them look kind of harsh.

The reasons I give this book four stars are the words are still a bit awkward, the plot is rather strained (pointless escapades added to lengthen the plot and nothing really happens), and finally because the book in general lacks a charm that other books contain in abundance.

Loggie-log-log-log

Rating:
Summary: Not one of Hoff's best
Review: Sorry, this book reeks to me of late-career "cashing in" on the D&tD legend. For me, Hoff's original "Danny and the Dinosaur" is a classic work, a brilliantly simple book, with a lovely fantasy story and exquisitely simple, highly memorable illustrations.

Unfortunately "Happy Birthday" was drawn by Hoff in his eighties, and the illustrations barely resemble the characters I know and love. Sad to say, it looks like the poor guy can barely control the pen. I can't deny that Hoff (and now, his estate) deserves every penny he could squeeze from his beloved characters, but the characters (and the readers) do deserve better than this weak sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaurs
Review: The print type in this book is larger enough for a beginner reader to point to an not lose there place. My son enjoys reading this story as much as I did when I was his age.