This book is so much fun! All kinds of vehicles and each driven by a dinosaur but the explanations/stories are driven by fun poetry! each page is filled with illustrations that, while reminiscent of Richard Scary or Where's Waldo, are made so much more fun by the thought balloons that talk about the dino pictured. I totally laughed myself silly!
Once again "Includes dinosaur pronunciation guides for every poem."
The illustrations by Dustin Harbin are intricate, brilliantly colorful, and fun.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school, waiting room, or your local public library! Pub Date Sep 30, 2025
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected galley proof from Tundra Book Group | Tundra Books via NetGalley. ***** #review #goodreads #storygraph #NetGalley @librarythingofficial #dinosthatdrive by @suzylevinson and illustrated by @dharbin @tundrabooks @penguinrandomca #kidlit #picturebooks #childrensbookillustration @childrensbookcouncil #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk @indigo #kidsbooks #TundraLittlePoets #Books #Bookstagram #KidsBooks #KidLit #ReadTundra @barnesandnoble #picturebook #poetryforkids #dinosaurs #librarians #librariesarethebest #kidlit #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #poetry #poetrycollection #childrensbookillustration #childrensbook #dinosaurs #vehicles #landseaair

Absolutely loved this book! Not only did my son really enjoy it, but it made us laugh too. My son was so into it that he grabbed his dinosaurs to act it out. I can’t wait to get this for our children’s reading corner.

I loved this book! The dino facts were always on point and very engaging, and the prose/rhyming was so cute and fun! As an artist, the illustrations also caught my eye and made the story truly flow. I loved the way it resembled a comic book, with so much to read and look at. Learning all of the different dinosaur names was really interesting and fun, too. Definitely something I would recommend to dinosaur loving little ones and adults alike!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author and publishing company for the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall: 4.5🌟
Plot: 4.5📍
Illustrations: 4🖌️
Laughter: 3😂

Mom's Review:
(Still to come.)

"A's" Review
I LOVED IT!!! 😂

"C's" Review:
"It was a cheesy time!" (We're still determining what that means!

Dad's Review:
I thought this was great! I loved all the facts about the dinosaurs.

(Full Traveling Book Family reviews to come!)
Thank you to Suzy Levidon, Dustin Harbin, Tundra Book Group, & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

All opinions are our own.

NOTES:
° = Our Plot/Lesson rating is how well the kiddos picked up on the morals/lessons learned or well received the facts were.
^ = A, "Ready to Read" level 3, voracious reader
* = C, learning her letters, but memorizes stories well!

**There might be a few little plot reveals edited to a [generic description in brackets] to keep the surprise. :)

“Quotes” I paraphrase the kids’ opinions 90% of the time, but will call out their direct quotes.

This book was so cute and we had a great time reading this one! This will be a new staple in our dinosaur loving household. They thought the story was so fun! I love when my kids enjoy a story so much that they ask to watch it again right away! The illustrations were extremely cute too.

Thank you NetGalley and Tundra Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so fun! Hitting two frequently requested topics in the children's library-- dinosaurs and things that go-- this book won't stay on the shelves for long. I appreciated the dinosaur name guides for each poem, and some of them made me, an adult, giggle. Fun for kids and grown ups alike!

This was a very cute book that tied in two of my kids' (5 and 2) favourite things. As the grown up reader I appreciated the pronunciation guide for the dino's names, and the little facts on each page were fun and my 5 year old really enjoyed them. My 2 year old loved looking for where the T-rex would come back, and pointing out the different coloured trucks. A fantastic book for kids who like dinosaurs and cars, there are so many different things for them to notice on re-reads. We read this e-book through NetGalley.

This was SUCH a cute book and what a fun way for kids to learn about dinosaurs! I feel like every child goes through a Dino phase and this book will sure be a great addition to their libraries. The illustrations were beautifully drawn and I can’t wait to get my hands on a finished physical copy for my son this fall!

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this. The illustrations were so fun, as well as the poems. I think it's a great way to learn more about dinosaurs, even if they're in cars or on motorcycles, etc. Definitely putting this on the list for my kiddo.

Cute and informative book! Loved the element of poetry! Great illustrations, great use of color! I loved how the proper pronunciation for each dino was included in the text.

Dinos That Drive seemed chaotic and unorganized for me, although my son loved the busy illustrations to concentrate on while I was reading aloud. Even though this was marketed as a book of poetry, it might have been helpful to have it listed on the cover to further denote it from other traditional story books. Some of the poems were funny and cute, while others really missed the mark and just seemed random and far reaching to fit into the book. I wish the book was formatted to have a stronger sense of theme of the city, not just sporadic scenes with several "repeat" poems. I personally felt that the illustrations didn't fit the playfulness of the story and at times could be a little scary. My son and I enjoyed the actual fats of each dinosaur on every page and liked those parts the most out of the entire book.

I found this book to be very light-hearted and whimsical. The small blurbs were very informative about the dinosaur itself. Very creative and inventive. The rhymes were cute and humorous

This book is for fans of Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, Josh, Funk, or Greg Pincus. It’s full of fun, humorous, and a bit nonsensical poetry. A few of the poems didn’t fully hit for me. The rhyme felt little bit forced, or the meter was just a smidge off. But the poems were overall very much fun and bouncy, so those inconsistencies didn’t bother me too much.

I enjoyed the two little narrator dinosaurs with their interjections of facts about the dinosaurs on each page. I do wish they had a slightly bigger role, with more facts to give, or that the poems had a bit more of an obvious connection to the truth about each dinosaur. Of course, some poems were spot on like the stegosaurus who drives an ice cream truck, but with his tiny brain, he doesn’t think ahead to bring cones or bowls. He has to serve up the ice cream on the plates. He always carries on his back.

The illustrations were delightful, with so many cute little Easter eggs in there. Like the tanker, carrying “Rexxon Future Fuel,” and the biker brontosaurus wearing a “La Brea Angels” jacket.

Pros: The theme/concept and pictures are absolutely wonderful! My kid (age 4) want's go get a physical copy of this book for the pictures alone (especially the dinosaur constellations).

I saw the notice in the beginning that this book is still in development/proofs, so here are some other thoughts,..

+ I can't totally tell what this book is supposed to be.

+ The copy: kind of clonky and doesn't seem cohesive; sometimes it rhymes, sometimes there's a flow, but it's rather disjointed

+ The font: the book is fun and silly, but the font choice is really boring and hard for kids to read who are just learning (for example: capital I looks indistinguishable from L, it's not a dyslexic friendly font/spacing.

+ Pictures: as a parent, I am very appreciative that they have helmets and seatbelts. The pictures are so fun - they would make a great coloring book too.
*** The helicopter on page 13: looks like a Robinson - even got the tail rotor on the correct side - yay! BUT the controls are looking too much like a plane yoke, there needs to be a collective (ebreak looking instrument) to go with the cyclic. (I used to be in this industry and if you get it right, the pilots & mechanics will not stop talking about it if they see it because it so rarely is done correctly).

Page 17, my kid commented that a most of the dino's are wearing clothes, but a a small few (including an adult) are not ... we couldn't tell if it was intentional.


At this stage, I don't feel totally comfortable giving it a star rating (But it's required) . It's very promising, just doesn't seem quite there. I'm looking forward to when it's closer to being finalized/published, I will check back in then.

Super cute rhyming book good for kids in kinder through 2nd grade who love dinosaurs. My 6 yr old really liked that Gus favorite dinosaur the triceratops drives his favorite car - a jeep.

A very descriptive and unique story of dinosaurs told in poetry. This Dino story includes some lesser featured dinosaurs.

What a fun way to learn about dinosaurs! These dinosaurs are put into positions you know aren't real, and you get to think about what dinosaur parts would make it impossible for them to, say, drive a car. The language and pictures are hilarious, and I found myself grinning and giggling all the way through. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Dinos That Drive is a cute and educational poetry book introducing the reader to dinosaur types as they adventure in various vehicles.

From rocket-ships to RVs, Titanosaurs to Velociraptors, two little dino friends take us on an adventure to meet various dinosaurs and their chosen modes of transportation. Chock full of cute jokes and nuggets of fun dino facts, toddlers and young children will adore this book! I appreciate that there were pronunciations because a few of the dinosaurs were actually new to me.

Just when you think if you’ve read one children’s dinosaur book you’ve read them all, Suzy Levinson manages to make this dinosaur book stand out with the flow of her poetry. The illustrations by Dustin Harbin are incredibly detailed and cute.

Overall this is a very fun and creative book and I’ll be purchasing for my kids upon release and recommending to all of my mom friends with dinosaur loving children.

Thank you NetGalley, Suzy Levinson, and Tundra Book Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to say thank you from the bottom of heart and my boys to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me and my boys the privilege of getting to read an ARC of this book!

My dino and car loving boys absolutely adored this book! They laughed out loud to so many of the poems and the little jokes made by the little dinosaurs, they can't wait for it come out so that way we can bring it home!

I loved the whole book! I've always loved poetry and this was an absolutely beautiful way to introduce it to children. The poems are catchy and cute and tie in perfectly with the incredible artwork. The tiny dinosaurs with their jokes and facts were such a great element! This was perfect for my kids (8 and 10) even younger kids will love this. This was educational and world expansive in honestly the perfect way for kids. Dinosaur and car lover's and so many more will devour (joke also intended based on some very kid-friendly poems) this book! Despite what it says this reminds me the most as if Shel Silverstein (great poems and matching photos) and Mo Willems (the fun, silliness and sometimes educational aspects) wrote a book together! I loved this so much and so did my kids, and we can't wait until we can bring it home!

Thank you so very much from the bottoms of our hearts again! We loved it!

Loved it! Beautifully illustrated! I plan to read this again and again to my grandchildren. It can be used as just a picture book for younger children. I received a complimentary e-copy of this book and read it with pleasure. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Tundra Books and NetGalley.