Doodle with Duddle – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Informative and interactive confidence booster.
Children’s book title: Doodle with Duddle: How to Draw Dinosaurs.
Children’s author: Jonny Duddle.
Genre: Activity Book / Natural History.
Published by: Templar Publishing.
ISBN: 9781800784376.
Recommended for children aged: 5+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback June 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: Dinosaur lovers, budding drawers and supplementing KS2 cross-curricular lessons.
To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image.
Our review:
Dinosaur lovers will be pleased to get their hands on this new how-to activity book by Jonny Duddle, creator of the 10-year-old novel, Gigantosaurus.
For those unfamiliar with the original book or TV series, it is easy to see why Duddle’s drawing style is so popular; having worked previously in computer game character development, Duddle can create scary-but-cuddly-looking dinosaurs that result in enticing imagery for the younger generations. Subdued safari-themed colours on satisfyingly thick paper also provide the necessary canvas for heavy-handed sketching and page-turning!
Duddle starts by introducing the Gigantosaurus characters in preparation for their role in the following drawing activities. Again, it isn’t necessary to be familiar with this content as, alongside these characters, dinosaur facts are strategically placed throughout, covering a wide variety of topics such as how fossils are created, the dinosaur eras, their skeletons, eggs and food chain.
One particularly effective feature is the size comparisons offered for each species of dinosaur, contextualised beside several species from today. Duddle even acknowledges the inaccuracy of some of his characters, such as his misspelling of ‘Gigantosaurus’, his discrepancy of certain species existing together, and his manipulation of dinosaur anatomy, all of which come across as comically honest.
Duddle demonstrates the stages of drawing from start to finish with his own sketches, again honest in their depictions, and reassuring for the self-conscious drawer. Each activity also starts with a faint outline for gentle progress and is framed by inclusive text, welcoming mistakes and all manner of mediums such as pencils, pens and paints.
The commentary is full of useful hints and prompts to stimulate the reader’s imagination, asking questions such as, “What colour should it be? Would it have patterns on its body?” and “Why not draw your idea of what this may have looked like?”, even suggesting at one point to advance beyond the book to bigger pieces of paper for larger creations. To finish, Duddle demonstrates how the reader’s drawings can be transformed into a story. The overall message of this info-activity book is that anyone can pick up a pencil and draw.
Our verdict:
Aimed at children aged 5-7, this book has the potential to appeal to a wider range of ages; older independent readers interested in improving their drawing skills, and the younger Gigantosaurus followers who will need help reading the instructions and facts. Doodle with Duddle: How to Draw Dinosaurs is essentially an educational book without feeling like one because of how fun it is to complete; thus, it is ideal for supplementing cross-curricular lessons.
Many thanks to Templar Books for the review copy.
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If you like Doodle with Duddle: How to Draw Dinosaurs by Jonny Duddle you might also like: Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle, Press Out and Decorate: Dinosaurs by Kate McLelland, Dinosaurs Magic Painting Book by Lucy Bowman and Federica Iossa and How to Build LEGO Dinosaurs: Go On a Journey to Become a Better Builder by Jessia Farrell, Hannah Dolan and Nathan Dias.
Browse our Year 2 book list.
