Kids will roar for ‘Ally-Saurus & the First Day of School’

On your first day of school, you become a first-grader.

That's a big step because you also become a scholar, a learner. You'll be someone who gets good grades and someone who likes recess. You'll be a kid who makes your family proud. But what if you just wanted to be a plain old kid … who's part dinosaur? In the new book "Ally-Saurus & the First Day of School" by Richard Torrey, you'll see what could happen.

Though it may have looked like Ally's mother was waking a little girl up and helping her out of bed on the first day of school, that wasn't the case at all. What looked like a girl was really an Ally-Saurus, a fierce and dangerous dinosaur.

Minutes after rising, Ally-Saurus took off her dino jammies and put on her new dinosaur shirt and striped pants — backward. That was so her "dinosaur tail can stick out," she told Father. He made her put her clothes on the correct way, which made Ally-Saurus ROAR before she ate her breakfast with "fierce teeth."

Would there be other dinosaurs in school? Mother wasn't sure about that, but she thought there might be a chance to make friends — and the first friend Ally-Saurus made was her new teacher, Mrs. Woolhandler.

But the other kids? They were a little tougher. The whole class made nametags for their cubes, but Ally-Saurus was the only one who made a nametag in the shape of a dinosaur. Mrs. W taught the class about the weather, but when Ally-Saurus said a cloud looked like a dinosaur, someone else saw something else. Ally-Saurus thought everybody liked dinosaurs, but it turned out that a lot of girls liked princesses better.

They liked princesses so much that they wouldn't let an Ally-Saurus sit with them, so she had to sit by herself at an empty table in the lunchroom. If only she could be at home with her dinosaur toys. At least they'd eat lunch with her. Would a fierce Ally-Saurus ever be able to find friends at school?

Remember your first day of school? It was a pretty big day, and no matter how much Mom prepared you for it, you were probably still a little nervous. If your child is facing the same jitters before class starts, then you need "Ally-Saurus & the First Day of School" in your home.

It's easy to fall in love with Ally-Saurus. From the jaunty ponytails and the self-assured smile to the pink dinosaur scales across her head and down, she makes kids (and parents) smile. What I liked best, though, was the way Torrey depicts a child's pretend-world. Ally-Saurus's dino-personality is clear to her and, eventually, it's clear to everyone who's able to become someone (or something) much more fun.

This book is a delight, and I think your 4- to 7-year-old will love it. For children with good imaginations or for any kid heading to class this fall, "Ally-Saurus & the First Day of School" will make them roar.

— View publishes Terri Schlichenmeyer's reviews of books for children weekly.