Sunday, January 22, 2017

Steg-o-normous (Oodlethunks #2)

28691942Griffin, Adele. Steg-o-Normous (Oodlethunks #2)
September 13th 2016 by Scholastic Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Now that Oona's dinosaur egg has hatched, she finds that her "baby", Stacy, is becoming a bigger problem every day. Literally! She takes an enormous amount of food (which is a challenge in a hunter-gatherer society!), and sometimes decides to take her food from the family garden. Oona decides to consult the old witch Brouhaha to see if she can get a potion to stop Stacy's growth, and feels somewhat bad when she steals what she needs from the witch. It's not even that effective, and the problems mount, especially when Stacy has an upset stomach and gets stuck in the cave mouth. Oona and her brother Bonk eventually realize that Stacy would fare better with others of her kind, and reluctantly get her settled elsewhere. 

This was a funny novel, and the text size and pictures make it perfect for readers who are just moving to longer chapter books. There is a first book introducing West Woggle and Oona's community, Oona Finds an Egg (2016), and a third book, Welcome to Camp Woggle, is due out in May of 2017. 

While there is a fair amount of gross moments, such as Stacy throwing up and having stomach problems on, er, the other end as well, there are also strong themes of community and caring for others. 

Readers who adore the silliness of the Geronimo Stilton Cave Mice series and don't need their prehistory to follow strict factual rules (Prehistoric zucchini? Apricots? ) will love imagining that they, too, are wandering around with Oona and Bonk with their own personal dinosaur. 


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