How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?

My editor thought that two very young board books about the Yolen/Teague dinosaurs might be a great idea. She suggested a counting rhyme for one of them. I came up with the Clean Their Rooms idea (and the first line, which never varied, even after many revisions) for the other. These books had to be simpler than the two bigger books—as they are shorter and for much younger children. Interestingly, the counting book turned out to be much more difficult than the room-cleaning book. In fact, once Mark Teague began to think about the artwork, he was dismayed by my first try which was all about dinosaurs making a variety of noises: One dinosaur grumbles/Two dinosaurs shriek/Three dinosaurs thunder/Four dinosaurs squeak”… etc. He felt—and I had to reluctantly agree—that it would be much too hard to illustrate successfully. So I went back to the computer and started all over again with a very different text.

The English and Spanish editions were released at the same time.

What reviewers have said:

• “The scaly stars [of How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?] set a good example (sort of) in How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? as a velociraptor slides pink pajamas behind the bathroom door, and an airborne tropeognathus drops its clothes into a hamper.” — Publisher’s Weekly
• “This is a fun book to show kids that even dinosaurs have to keep their rooms clean!” — Kidsbookshelf
• “In the same spirit as Yolen and Teague’s previous best-selling dinosaur books, these two [reviews this and How do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? together] new board books from the same team spell big dinosaur fun for the little readers in your life. Available in both English and Spanish, both books are written in rhyme, boast silly antics by cheerful dinosaurs, and teach a little something along the way. Count to 10 and clean your room alongside unexpectedly charming dinosaurs. Simply great.” — Dallas News

Available as a board book.