T Is for Terrible

“I do not know why I am so terrible,” moans a Tyrannosaurus Rex suffering an identity crisis in this iconographic adaptation of Peter McCarty's beautifully illustrated 2004 picture book T Is for Terrible, aimed at ages 3-8. The nameless dinosaur can't help the fact that he steps on little flowers when he walks, or that the ground shakes when he runs, or that his neighbors flee for their lives when he approaches. Reflecting on his life, our Mr. T reasons that he too came out of an egg and had a mother, and he admits that he would like to be a vegetarian…but unlike some of his huge prehistoric brethren, he does “not eat trees,” but meat. Narrated by David deVries in an alternately charming and menacing voice, and backed by a fine score from Scotty Huff and Robert Reynolds, this is an offbeat (and even a little scary) snapshot of the king of the terrible lizards grappling with a heavy conscience. Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)