Don't Forget Dexter by Lindsay Ward

Don't Forget Dexter 
by Lindsay Ward
Published January 2018
by Two Lions
Hardcover
Fiction Picture Book
32 Pages
Review copy provided by publisher and Blue Slip Media

Goodreads Summary
When his best friend, Jack, leaves him behind at the doctor’s office, Dexter T. Rexter panics. First he tries to find Jack. Then he sings their special song. Then he sings their special song even louder. But when Jack still doesn’t appear, Dexter starts to wonder. What if he’s being replaced by another toy? It can’t be—after all, he can STOMP, RAWR, and CHOMP! Right? Right?!
This hilariously neurotic dinosaur will do whatever it takes to get his friend back—even asking the reader’s advice—in this first book of a brand-new series.

My Thoughts

Oh. My. Gosh! This book could not be more adorable! All kids can relate to leaving a beloved toy behind at some point like at a doctor's office, but this book shows what the toy might be going through as they look for their little boy or girl. Kids will be riveted as they follow Dexter's quest to find his best friend Jack. They will love how Dexter talks directly to them and asks for their help. 

A variety of fonts, colors and sizes, combined with speech bubbles, captions and arrows add to the fun. And of course there is a silly catchy song from Dexter in the middle. Just try getting that out of your head after reading this book aloud. 

The illustrations are beautiful and appear, at first glance to be very simple. There are lots of curved lines with smooth colored pencil outlining and and coloring in the backgrounds. Lindsay Ward also uses cut paper for many illustrations which lends an element of dimension and interest. I would encourage you, and your kids, to look very closely at Dexter and at all of the illustrations. Some feel like you could pluck them right off the page.

I really loved Don't Forget Dexter and would highly recommend it for ages 2-7. 

Lindsay Ward was inspired to write this book after her husband texted her a photo of a toy dinosaur abandoned at a doctor’s office.

The caption read: “Well, they left me here.” Lindsay thought it was so funny that she sat down to write Dexter’s story immediately. She is also the author and illustrator of Brobarians, Henry Finds His Word, and When Blue Met Egg. Her book Please Bring Balloons was also made into a play.
Most days you can find Lindsay writing and sketching at her home in Peninsula, Ohio, where she lives with her family. Learn more about her online at www.LindsayMWard.com or on Twitter: @lindsaymward.

Praise for DON’T FORGET DEXTER!
★ “Ward’s ink, colored-pencil, and cut-paper illustrations give readers a toy’s view of the world and allow children to stomp in Dexter’s feet for a while, his facial expressions giving them lots of clues to his feelings. Lost and found was never so riotously funny or emotionally draining.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Ward (Brobarians) is as funny as ever as she chronicles her orange hero’s nervous, no-filter state of mind, and her cut-paper, pencil, and ink drawings—with their visual asides, annotations, and shifts in scale—are irrepressible. It’s high anxiety made highly adorable.” —Publishers Weekly

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Giveaway!
One lucky winner will receive a copy of DON’T FORGET DEXTER! courtesy of Two Lions (U.S. addresses).

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