Dinorella by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Edwards, Pamela Duncan. 1997. Dinorella: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale. Ill. by Henry Cole. New York: Scholoastic. ISBN o590689487

An alliterative variant of the classic Cinderella tale, Dinorella is notable for its fantastic illustrations and its alliterative text. Dinorella is a dinosaur who wants to go to Duke Dudley's dance, but her dinosaur stepsisters keep her from the party with all kinds of work. When Dinorella's Fairydactyl shows up, the evening takes a turn for the better, and Dinorella gets to make an appearance (and save the day!) at Duke Dudley's dance after all. Cole's illustrations are so clever--prehistoric dinosaurs who dress in 1950s-era clothing (there is one picture of one of the dinosaurs putting on her pantyhose that is hilarious). The bright acrylics and creative touches (like the license plate which reads X-TNKT) make the illustrations a pleasure to look at.

The text, which is written using primarily D-words ("He dumped Duke Dudley and departed double-quick") is generally fun and light-hearted, but does occasionally flatten out because of the reliance on alliteration (calling teeth "dentures" for example, seems forced). Although the basic message of the book is lovely (being a hard worker is rewarded over laziness) some parents will have a problem with the name-calling ("disgusting dummy," "dopey domestic," etc.) in this book. However, although I as a parent had some reservations about this book, my kids love it, especially my four-year-old dinosaur-mad son. My six-year-old daughter likes to read it aloud, because she likes the way "all those D-words sound".

For me, the illustrations were the high point of this book, but my kids like to hear the story as well.

AWARDS & REVIEWS:

"Cinderella and dinosaur devotees may find humor in this retelling, but there's a forced zaniness in the settings and situations, and Dinorella comes off a bit daffy and dreary." Publisher's Weekly

"In this retelling of Cinderella, it is an indentured dinosaur who escapes her life of servitude through the aid of a fairy godmother to begin a new life with a prince. In this version, the fairy godmother is a pterodactyl and Dinorella rescues the prince from a meat-eating dinosaur by tossing dirtballs and diamonds. Filled with words beginning with "d" and comical illustrations, this light-hearted book takes a new slant on an old tale." Children's Literature

"The alliteration begins to get away from Edwards, dictating the storyline and resulting in dialogue and descriptions that prove distracting after the first few pages. The story deteriorates further with name-calling: "dopey domestic," "disgusting dummy," "dimwit," "dingbat," and "dumbhead." Cole dazzles in this dumbed-down classic, which goes from hilarious to tedious in very short order." Kirkus Reviews

CONNECTIONS:

This book could be a great way to teach alliteration (even to older students) and then ask them to try to write their own fairy tale variant using alliteration as well.

Dinorella could also be used as part of a Cinderella compare/contrast or as a fictional story to go along with a dinosaur unit.

Edwards has also written Some Smug Slug which also uses alliteration (although clearly, S-words instead of D-words). If students like the alliterative text, they might enjoy reading that as well.