Some problems we encounter in life can't be solved by forethought. Only by being present in the moment — with our ingenuity in high gear and sometimes the help of fortuitous happenings — can we make it through, as Little Mo discovers in this book.
Little Mo is a tiny primate forebear of ours, back in the age of giant dinosaurs. By nature, he's a bit timid: When he encounters a snowstorm for the first time, he fears that the sky is falling and runs to his mom and dad for reassurance.
So readers can hear slightly ominous shades of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales when, the next morning, his parents go in search of food, saying, "You will be safe and warm in the cave. We will be back soon with good things to eat."
What is Little Mo to do, then, when his parents leave and massive dinosaurs take over his family's cave? His actions lead readers through an adventure with just the right levels of excitement, scariness, and adorable humor. Seeing Little Mo's nose poking out of the middle of a gigantic ball of snow that's accumulating speed and volume so fast that it's "rumbling like an earthquake" will make children laugh even as it causes the dinosaurs to flee.
Prolific author and illustrator Michael Foreman has won two Kate Greenaway Medals for British children's book illustration and was a runner-up five times. He closes this book for 4-to-8 year olds with Little Mo charmingly downplaying his monster-chasing prowess to his newly returned parents, who have spotted the dinosaur footprints: "Don't worry, Dad, I chased them off. Is it time for dinner?"
