Rex Dinosaur in Disguise

Rex is a dinosaur in New York. Happily roaming swamps hunting stegosauruses one moment, frozen in a block of ice-age ice the next, then defrosting and washing up in the Big Apple. How will a T Rex navigate modern life? With difficulty basically, although he is lucky enough to be found and taken in by a yeti – Brian Bigfoot – who has found a way to blend in. Other refugees in the city include Nessy and the last remaining dodo family. They’ve all found jobs – Nessy is a lifeguard at the local pool, while the dodo is a successful local businessman. Rex finds it harder, and he has a few false (and wonderfully comic) starts before finding the perfect job, with the help of a couple of sharp-eyed children, Sandra and Anish, who’ve noticed he’s not like their other neighbours. There’s a sub-plot around Sandra, whose best friend Maddie has recently ditched her for ‘the Hannahs’ (there’s two of them), tempted away by ponies and dance routines. When Maddie accidentally discovers the truth about Rex, by then their school’s hugely popular PE teacher, she immediately rats him out to the authorities. Maddie has been convinced by stuff she’s read on the internet, that there are dangers everywhere, monsters threatening human beings and Sandra can’t convince her otherwise. Dolan’s book is brilliantly funny, full of absurd and delightful situations and Rex is an irresistible character. Like that other series about animals in disguise, The Bolds by Julian Clary and David Roberts, there’s much more than just comedy and the story successfully slips in messages about tolerance, allowing people to live their own way, and the importance of thinking for yourself. Laugh out loud and thoughtful.