What do you think?
Rate this book
Penelope Rex #1
We Don't Eat Our Classmates
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Picture Books (2018)Penelope the dinosaur starts school, but it’s hard to make friends when her classmates are so delicious!
It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all... Readers will gobble up this hilarious new story from award-winning author-illustrator Ryan T. Higgins.
It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all... Readers will gobble up this hilarious new story from award-winning author-illustrator Ryan T. Higgins.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published June 19, 2018
289 people are currently reading
5727 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,787 reviews
June 18, 2018
In a word: hilarious.
July 27, 2018
Each year, as the new school year draws ever closer, a bounty of first day of school books are published. The bulk of them are overly familiar. A couple of them are a bit witty. But one of them, only one of them, will ascend to the level of “classic”. This year, I am very pleased to announce that the honor simply must go to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. It pretty much has everything I’ve ever wanted in a book on Kindergarten. Dinosaurs. Sociopathic goldfish. Saliva. You name it. Ryan T. Higgins is no stranger to the picture book game but with this book I think he’s topped himself. Like that long piece of drool on the cover, this is one title that refuses to let the reader go.
Penelope is nervous about the first day of school. Penelope is also a T. rex. Reassurances from mom and dad aside, she can’t help but wonder if she’ll make any friends. And when the day in question arrives, Penelope is completely shocked to discover that all her classmates are human children. So she eats them. She spits them right out when her teacher admonishes her, but the damage is done. Her classmates now fear her, and rightly so. Stricken and lonely, Penelope turns to the class goldfish for comfort and friendship. Little does she suspect that Walter the goldfish is about to teach her a good lesson in empathy. And mastication.
I mean, where to begin? Let’s talk about the construction of the book right off the bat, shall we? Much of what I love about We Don't Eat Our Classmates has to do with how well it reads aloud. Those readaloud qualities are partially based in the fact that the author is magnificent at setting up and then surprising expectations. For example, there are the little throwaway lines, like the one about Penelope’s new pony covered backpack. “Ponies were Penelope’s favorite. Because ponies are delicious.” Now much of the benefit of this book will come to kids that have read a lot of other first day of school picture books prior to this one. They’ll know the drill. So it’s a treat to have Penelope enter her classroom for the first time, see the kids, and let the reader think that this is the big surprise. A flip of the page and all the children have disappeared. This is where the text is, once again, so very good. “So she ate them. Because children are delicious.” Every single time I turn the page and read this part, the audience gives a little gasp. It’s like when I’m reading Maurice Sendak’s Pierre to a group and then I get to the line, “So the lion ate Pierre.” They honestly didn’t see it coming. The rest of the book follows along very similar lines, setting up expectations and then knocking them down. It makes for a delicious (pardon the phrase) read.
And I’ve always liked the art of Ryan T. Higgins. The book says that the art of this story was “created using scans of treated clayboard for textures, graphite, ink, and Photoshop”. This is probably the same style he used for his Bruce books and Be Quiet I liked Be Quiet very much, actually, while Bruce I could take or leave. In this book, not only has he upped the ante on his writing (which is swift, slick, and perfectly phrased) but he’s doing such fun things with the illustrations. Look how he foregrounds Penelope to make it appear that she’s standing apart from her classmates outside the school. Look at how her dad tucks his tail comfortingly around her while she clutches her sippy cup. Notice the single stray shoe of William Omoto, how it hangs from her mouth one moment, and how he resignedly puts it back on in the next. I could read this book a thousand times and never get sick of this art.
Which brings us to a goldfish that is quite possibly the most frightening specimen an ichthyologist could ever hope to encounter. To make you understand the degree to which this goldfish’s dead-eyed stare bores deep into my soul, I have to compare it to something completely non-children’s book related. If at any point in the 90s and early 00s you encountered a free newspaper, no doubt you also read the comic strip “Red Meat” by Max Cannon. It featured a regular case of characters, including a guy simply referred to as “Bug-Eyed Earl”. The likeness is uncanny. But the interesting thing about Walter the goldfish is the degree to which Higgins can make him creepy. Walter has to stand in complete opposition to Penelope. She is an adorable tiny dino in pink overalls. T. rex dinos are normally easy to make scary. And if Walter were a hamster or a gerbil or a pet snake, it wouldn’t be funny at all if HE were scary. But a goldfish? It’s the perfect foil. There may be something broken inside of him that none of us will ever be able to fix, but that’s the beauty. Plus, look at how Higgins shifts the goldfish’s gaze ever so slightly. When we first get a good look at him, he’s staring into the middle distance. But at the very end of the book, on that last page, he’s now looking straight at us. It’s what I suspected all along. If Mr. Higgins ever wants to go full-out creepy on us, he’s got the goods.
A colleague of mine decided to try this book out on kids (a novel notion!). Sure, I love Penelope to bits but I’m coming at this from an adult perspective (see: previous mention of “Red Meat”). Give this book to small fry and how do they react? As it turns out, they like the book very much but not necessarily in the way you’d expect. When read to a large group, our sample children considered it with a degree of seriousness we hadn’t predicted. Identification with Penelope surpassed anything I might have expected. All children can feel her fears, worries, and sympathize with her slippery grip on impulse control. Though her eye is simply an exaggerated black dot, Higgins imbues her with a pathos that demands understanding. The book is definitely funny, but it’s funnier to older kids. For those on the younger side, it’s practically an instruction manual. Right down to the lesson on how not to put your finger in the class pet’s personal space.
Different first day of school books serve different purposes. There are those Kissing Hand books that offer comfort. There are others that simply recount what school will be like. And then there are some that serve up some humor alongside plain old ridiculousness. If you can laugh at what you fear, you’re gonna be just fine. Now in saying that I’ll admit that if you have a case of extreme nerves, perhaps The Kissing Hand is the way to go. But for those kids looking forward to their first day (and they exist in droves, you know) this should be a delightful capper. Fun, frolicsome, and you’ll never look at goldfish the same way again.
For ages 4-7.
Penelope is nervous about the first day of school. Penelope is also a T. rex. Reassurances from mom and dad aside, she can’t help but wonder if she’ll make any friends. And when the day in question arrives, Penelope is completely shocked to discover that all her classmates are human children. So she eats them. She spits them right out when her teacher admonishes her, but the damage is done. Her classmates now fear her, and rightly so. Stricken and lonely, Penelope turns to the class goldfish for comfort and friendship. Little does she suspect that Walter the goldfish is about to teach her a good lesson in empathy. And mastication.
I mean, where to begin? Let’s talk about the construction of the book right off the bat, shall we? Much of what I love about We Don't Eat Our Classmates has to do with how well it reads aloud. Those readaloud qualities are partially based in the fact that the author is magnificent at setting up and then surprising expectations. For example, there are the little throwaway lines, like the one about Penelope’s new pony covered backpack. “Ponies were Penelope’s favorite. Because ponies are delicious.” Now much of the benefit of this book will come to kids that have read a lot of other first day of school picture books prior to this one. They’ll know the drill. So it’s a treat to have Penelope enter her classroom for the first time, see the kids, and let the reader think that this is the big surprise. A flip of the page and all the children have disappeared. This is where the text is, once again, so very good. “So she ate them. Because children are delicious.” Every single time I turn the page and read this part, the audience gives a little gasp. It’s like when I’m reading Maurice Sendak’s Pierre to a group and then I get to the line, “So the lion ate Pierre.” They honestly didn’t see it coming. The rest of the book follows along very similar lines, setting up expectations and then knocking them down. It makes for a delicious (pardon the phrase) read.
And I’ve always liked the art of Ryan T. Higgins. The book says that the art of this story was “created using scans of treated clayboard for textures, graphite, ink, and Photoshop”. This is probably the same style he used for his Bruce books and Be Quiet I liked Be Quiet very much, actually, while Bruce I could take or leave. In this book, not only has he upped the ante on his writing (which is swift, slick, and perfectly phrased) but he’s doing such fun things with the illustrations. Look how he foregrounds Penelope to make it appear that she’s standing apart from her classmates outside the school. Look at how her dad tucks his tail comfortingly around her while she clutches her sippy cup. Notice the single stray shoe of William Omoto, how it hangs from her mouth one moment, and how he resignedly puts it back on in the next. I could read this book a thousand times and never get sick of this art.
Which brings us to a goldfish that is quite possibly the most frightening specimen an ichthyologist could ever hope to encounter. To make you understand the degree to which this goldfish’s dead-eyed stare bores deep into my soul, I have to compare it to something completely non-children’s book related. If at any point in the 90s and early 00s you encountered a free newspaper, no doubt you also read the comic strip “Red Meat” by Max Cannon. It featured a regular case of characters, including a guy simply referred to as “Bug-Eyed Earl”. The likeness is uncanny. But the interesting thing about Walter the goldfish is the degree to which Higgins can make him creepy. Walter has to stand in complete opposition to Penelope. She is an adorable tiny dino in pink overalls. T. rex dinos are normally easy to make scary. And if Walter were a hamster or a gerbil or a pet snake, it wouldn’t be funny at all if HE were scary. But a goldfish? It’s the perfect foil. There may be something broken inside of him that none of us will ever be able to fix, but that’s the beauty. Plus, look at how Higgins shifts the goldfish’s gaze ever so slightly. When we first get a good look at him, he’s staring into the middle distance. But at the very end of the book, on that last page, he’s now looking straight at us. It’s what I suspected all along. If Mr. Higgins ever wants to go full-out creepy on us, he’s got the goods.
A colleague of mine decided to try this book out on kids (a novel notion!). Sure, I love Penelope to bits but I’m coming at this from an adult perspective (see: previous mention of “Red Meat”). Give this book to small fry and how do they react? As it turns out, they like the book very much but not necessarily in the way you’d expect. When read to a large group, our sample children considered it with a degree of seriousness we hadn’t predicted. Identification with Penelope surpassed anything I might have expected. All children can feel her fears, worries, and sympathize with her slippery grip on impulse control. Though her eye is simply an exaggerated black dot, Higgins imbues her with a pathos that demands understanding. The book is definitely funny, but it’s funnier to older kids. For those on the younger side, it’s practically an instruction manual. Right down to the lesson on how not to put your finger in the class pet’s personal space.
Different first day of school books serve different purposes. There are those Kissing Hand books that offer comfort. There are others that simply recount what school will be like. And then there are some that serve up some humor alongside plain old ridiculousness. If you can laugh at what you fear, you’re gonna be just fine. Now in saying that I’ll admit that if you have a case of extreme nerves, perhaps The Kissing Hand is the way to go. But for those kids looking forward to their first day (and they exist in droves, you know) this should be a delightful capper. Fun, frolicsome, and you’ll never look at goldfish the same way again.
For ages 4-7.
November 2, 2018
Such a cute story. Penelope is a T-Rex about to go to school. She finds out that all her classmates are human. Humans are tasty so she eats them and the teacher makes her spit them back out. Not your usual story here. Needless to say, she has trouble making friends, plus, she keeps trying to eat her classmates.
The change happens when she experiences what this feels like to her. There is a goldfish that takes a bit out of Penelope’s finger and it hurts. Penelope did not like that feeling and it scared her. She learned, so she did not eat her classmates anymore even though they taste so good. She even was able to make friends.
This was fun. The kids loved this story! They both gave it 5 stars. The nephew laughed and laughed ever time a child was eaten. He loved it. This book was a hit in our house. The colors are bright and happy and Penelope is very cute in her little coveralls.
The change happens when she experiences what this feels like to her. There is a goldfish that takes a bit out of Penelope’s finger and it hurts. Penelope did not like that feeling and it scared her. She learned, so she did not eat her classmates anymore even though they taste so good. She even was able to make friends.
This was fun. The kids loved this story! They both gave it 5 stars. The nephew laughed and laughed ever time a child was eaten. He loved it. This book was a hit in our house. The colors are bright and happy and Penelope is very cute in her little coveralls.
May 13, 2019
In this amusing little picture book, we follow Penelope the T-Rex as she tries to navigate starting kindergarten. Starting school is a difficult thing for many children, but Penelope finds it even more challenging because, as it turns out, her classmates are all human children. And everyone knows that human children are delicious.
Penelope struggles to make friends because she keep trying to eat the delicious children. Eventually she figures out that it's not fun to be eaten and that she will need to stop eating the children if she wants to make friends.
Funny on the surface with a nice little lesson about empathy built in. Ryan T. Higgins is an expert at getting little lessons across in highly amusing ways. I'm a huge fan!
Badass Female Character score: 5/5 -- Penelope is a T-Rex and she devours those kids like a boss.
Penelope struggles to make friends because she keep trying to eat the delicious children. Eventually she figures out that it's not fun to be eaten and that she will need to stop eating the children if she wants to make friends.
Funny on the surface with a nice little lesson about empathy built in. Ryan T. Higgins is an expert at getting little lessons across in highly amusing ways. I'm a huge fan!
Badass Female Character score: 5/5 -- Penelope is a T-Rex and she devours those kids like a boss.
July 9, 2020
"Children are the same as us on the inside. Just tastier."
Penelope helps us all learn the difficult lesson of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. It may seem obvious to most of us that it's not okay to eat our classmates, but it's not until the tables are turned that Penelope discovers just how awful it is to be eaten. Okay, that sounds really grotesque, but don't worry -- this book is 100% G-rated and adorably funny.
It's not often that I laugh out loud at a book, but while reading this one I never stopped. If you enjoy children's books, you need to make the time to read and laugh along with this one.
Penelope helps us all learn the difficult lesson of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. It may seem obvious to most of us that it's not okay to eat our classmates, but it's not until the tables are turned that Penelope discovers just how awful it is to be eaten. Okay, that sounds really grotesque, but don't worry -- this book is 100% G-rated and adorably funny.
It's not often that I laugh out loud at a book, but while reading this one I never stopped. If you enjoy children's books, you need to make the time to read and laugh along with this one.
June 29, 2018
One of the funniest books of 2018.
November 11, 2018
Each year my family reads all the Goodreads-award-nominated picture books. This is book #10 (of 20) of 2018. The ratings were all high for this one, which made everyone smile.
Lyra (11): 4.5 stars.I like how he thought he could befriend 2 kids by eating them. He's so cute and funny.
Hank (12): 4.5 stars. I liked some of the lines in the book.
Harry (13): 5 stars. LOVED the book. It was so funny.
Tara: 4 stars. Kids would actually like this, as opposed to some of the other nominees, that adults like. Good lines: "Ponies were her favorites. Because ponies were delicious." "She stopped eating her classmates (even when Cece Woodman spilled BBQ sauce all over herself."
Dave: 4.5 stars. A picture book about a dinosaur that goes to kindergarten and well, needs to learn appropriate behavior in school: You don't eat your classmates. I picked this up last summer and couldn't get past the first page; didn't like the art. But the point is that kids like the art, and find it funny, and it is Higgins, it is accomplished. And then, when I finally read it, I thought it was funny. I prefer all these dreamy pastel watercolor picture books that make you cry or teach about nature, but they were written for me, for adults, not kids. Note to self: Kids prefer gross-out goofy stories. I guess given my rating, I kinda don't mind them, too!
Lyra (11): 4.5 stars.I like how he thought he could befriend 2 kids by eating them. He's so cute and funny.
Hank (12): 4.5 stars. I liked some of the lines in the book.
Harry (13): 5 stars. LOVED the book. It was so funny.
Tara: 4 stars. Kids would actually like this, as opposed to some of the other nominees, that adults like. Good lines: "Ponies were her favorites. Because ponies were delicious." "She stopped eating her classmates (even when Cece Woodman spilled BBQ sauce all over herself."
Dave: 4.5 stars. A picture book about a dinosaur that goes to kindergarten and well, needs to learn appropriate behavior in school: You don't eat your classmates. I picked this up last summer and couldn't get past the first page; didn't like the art. But the point is that kids like the art, and find it funny, and it is Higgins, it is accomplished. And then, when I finally read it, I thought it was funny. I prefer all these dreamy pastel watercolor picture books that make you cry or teach about nature, but they were written for me, for adults, not kids. Note to self: Kids prefer gross-out goofy stories. I guess given my rating, I kinda don't mind them, too!
August 5, 2023
I’ve read this so many times and it always makes me smile and laugh. I love the art so much.
July 1, 2019
Penelope Rex discovers that the secret to making friends at school is to refrain from eating them.
No matter how tasty they may be. How unfair is that?
Eventually A Lesson Is Learned, and all is well. This picture book, while mildly entertaining, simply isn't in the same league as I Just Ate My Friend -- in which, I'm happy to report, NO lessons are learned.
No matter how tasty they may be. How unfair is that?
Eventually A Lesson Is Learned, and all is well. This picture book, while mildly entertaining, simply isn't in the same league as I Just Ate My Friend -- in which, I'm happy to report, NO lessons are learned.
May 14, 2019
My grandkids loved this book. Very funny about a T-Rex on its way to kindergarten. Loved the pictures.
October 22, 2019
Children will adore We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, but not as much as their parents and grandparents! The latter will laugh out loud as pint-sized Penelope Rex goes to kindergarten for the first time and learns how to get along with her delicious human classmates. A great lesson for children on how to get along, but adults will love the quirky illustrations by Ryan T. Higgins and his sly prose. Highly, highly recommended.
November 17, 2018
This book is way too cute. It teaches compassion and empathy in a gentle, funny way.
Penelope really wants to make friends in kindergarten, but she just can't stop herself from eating her classmates. (Fortunately, "eating" them consists mainly of putting them in her mouth. Aside from ending up slobbery, the kids are physically unharmed.) Then all the kids become afraid of her, and she's left with nobody but the class goldfish, Walter, for company. And let's just say that Walter has issues of his own...
The illustrations are really adorable. Penelope likes ponies (because they're delicious), so we see that reflected in her backpack, lunchbox, and bedding. Her room is pretty cute, too; instead of human dolls, she has dinosaur dollies (of course). And I like how diverse her class is, with kids of different ethnicities and religions represented. I guess if you've got a T. rex thrown in there as well, the class can't help but be diverse.
This book has a great message about putting yourself in other people's shoes. Penelope finally sees her eating habits from the opposite side, and she realizes that what she was doing wasn't so pleasant (at least, not for the kids being eaten). She still gets the urge to eat her classmates from time to time--she is a T. rex, after all--but the lesson sticks with her, and she remembers how being on the "eaten" side feels.
There's just enough goofiness in the story to make it amusing, while still imparting an important message. I really enjoyed this book, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Quotable moment:
Penelope really wants to make friends in kindergarten, but she just can't stop herself from eating her classmates. (Fortunately, "eating" them consists mainly of putting them in her mouth. Aside from ending up slobbery, the kids are physically unharmed.) Then all the kids become afraid of her, and she's left with nobody but the class goldfish, Walter, for company. And let's just say that Walter has issues of his own...
The illustrations are really adorable. Penelope likes ponies (because they're delicious), so we see that reflected in her backpack, lunchbox, and bedding. Her room is pretty cute, too; instead of human dolls, she has dinosaur dollies (of course). And I like how diverse her class is, with kids of different ethnicities and religions represented. I guess if you've got a T. rex thrown in there as well, the class can't help but be diverse.
This book has a great message about putting yourself in other people's shoes. Penelope finally sees her eating habits from the opposite side, and she realizes that what she was doing wasn't so pleasant (at least, not for the kids being eaten). She still gets the urge to eat her classmates from time to time--she is a T. rex, after all--but the lesson sticks with her, and she remembers how being on the "eaten" side feels.
There's just enough goofiness in the story to make it amusing, while still imparting an important message. I really enjoyed this book, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Quotable moment:
June 29, 2018
What does it mean to be eaten in the context of stories for children? Ever since the mythical Cronus ate his children, wolves gobbled up two out of three little pigs, Red Riding Hood and her grandma, and a little old lady swallowed a fly, protagonists have been eaten or do the eating themselves. Max’s Wild Things famously threaten to eat him up, so much is their love for him. Klassen toyed with implied character consumption in two of his hat books, in which the eaten party is the recipient of some kind of natural justice. In his collaboration with Barnett, The Wolf, The Duck, & The Mouse, a stomach becomes an unlikely home and the predator is the one who regrets his choice of meal. Cummins’ A Hungry Lion plays with a “will he, won’t he” tension. As does Dyckman’s Misunderstood Shark. The list goes on and on. What do all these scenes amount to? However playfully addressed, they all seem to warn against or at least acknowledge a darker, more animal side to humanity. Which brings us to Higgin’s newest work.
This book tells the tale of a young tyrannosaurus rex on her first day of school. She arrives and is surprised to discover that all of her classmates are (tasty) humans. What follows is a series of kids eaten then spat up at the teacher’s behest, traps for kids so as to eat them, until loneliness and a bitey class pet (a fish) convince the young dinosaur to change her ways. I suppose the moral of this story is to treat your neighbor as you would yourself.
I have little doubt that many readers will delight in the repeated eating scenes. But for me, the joke was repeated so frequently, without the slightest suggestion anyone might be permanently digested, that it all became rather toothless. I have felt a certain amount of fatigue for eaten characters since the release of I Want My Hat Back. Parents and reviewers were equal parts dismayed and delighted when the bear (most likely) ate the rabbit, but they failed to see that the power of that moment was in its ambiguity and what might be behind the shifty eyes of Klassen’s deadpan animals. The best seller spawned a series of winking imitations in which authors and illustrators clapped themselves on the back for being subversive (ignoring the long pre-existing history of character consumption). If Higgin’s newest is not the epitome of that trend, I cannot imagine what book will be.
Two stars is likely too harsh for a book that is well drawn and generally amusing. But my tastes are more sated by drier material. At this point I know not to look to Ryan Higgins for emotional richness either. Maybe this realization will help me enjoy other books of his in the future.
This book tells the tale of a young tyrannosaurus rex on her first day of school. She arrives and is surprised to discover that all of her classmates are (tasty) humans. What follows is a series of kids eaten then spat up at the teacher’s behest, traps for kids so as to eat them, until loneliness and a bitey class pet (a fish) convince the young dinosaur to change her ways. I suppose the moral of this story is to treat your neighbor as you would yourself.
I have little doubt that many readers will delight in the repeated eating scenes. But for me, the joke was repeated so frequently, without the slightest suggestion anyone might be permanently digested, that it all became rather toothless. I have felt a certain amount of fatigue for eaten characters since the release of I Want My Hat Back. Parents and reviewers were equal parts dismayed and delighted when the bear (most likely) ate the rabbit, but they failed to see that the power of that moment was in its ambiguity and what might be behind the shifty eyes of Klassen’s deadpan animals. The best seller spawned a series of winking imitations in which authors and illustrators clapped themselves on the back for being subversive (ignoring the long pre-existing history of character consumption). If Higgin’s newest is not the epitome of that trend, I cannot imagine what book will be.
Two stars is likely too harsh for a book that is well drawn and generally amusing. But my tastes are more sated by drier material. At this point I know not to look to Ryan Higgins for emotional richness either. Maybe this realization will help me enjoy other books of his in the future.
August 13, 2018
“WE DON’T EAT OUR CLASSMATES! Please spit them out at once!”
Ryan T. Higgins hit my very short list of auto-buy picture book authors in a hurry after meeting Mother Bruce. A character that will forever make me giggle. And he’s done it again with this one!
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates introduces readers to an adorable little T.rex named Penelope. She’s very nervous about her first day of school. Will her classmates like her? How many teeth will they have? :D When the big day arrives, Penelope is surprised to see that all of her classmates are CHILDREN! Well….Can you guess what Penelope does next? Haha…
“Sometimes it’s hard to make friends,” said her dad.
“Especially if you eat them.”
Higgins has a way of writing stories that need to be read out loud! I read this book to myself one night after work and quietly chuckled. But when I read it out loud to an audience it really came alive! The pauses, pictures, and humor just feed off of the giggles and gasps from the listeners. Honestly it is a true story gem to read aloud.
This tale of first day fears, making friends, and empathy is perfect for kids a little (or a lot) nervous about starting school. It will make them laugh for sure!
Highly recommended.
February 19, 2018
I have read this book with my 4 year old every night since it arrived. I love when a picture book can make both of us laugh and this one certainly does. It's hilarious! He loves it because it makes him giggle and so do I. I also love the diversity depicted within Penelope's classmates and how it subtly addresses starting school jitters. This one made it to the favorites shelf right away. I highly recommend it!
June 19, 2018
AAAAHHHHHHHH I love this author. I really do.
This one was super adorable, full of food, and utterly humorous. I also want Penelope’s backpack that can hold 300 sandwiches. I need that to carry my books.
This one was super adorable, full of food, and utterly humorous. I also want Penelope’s backpack that can hold 300 sandwiches. I need that to carry my books.
September 29, 2023
Poor Penelope Rex - she just can't help eating her human classmates on her first day of school! Great book for young children that looks at how to make friends (and not eat them)! I think this book might resonate with a young child who is having problems making friends because they may be a little too aggressive; a definite repeat read!
June 22, 2019
It's impossible for me to choose which of the two books I read today about friend-eating will have the longest or strongest effect. All libraries would be wise to stock both, just in case.
Library copy
Library copy
July 13, 2018
When in doubt, choose a Ryan T. Higgins book to read. They never disappoint.
April 22, 2019
This one had a coworker laughing. Will kids find it as funny as grownups?
November 7, 2018
Super cute!
December 24, 2020
Lots of high ratings and a nominee for Best Children's book by Goodreads. A cute story about a dinosaur having a tough time making friends after eating her classmates. Also, a colossal example of bad parenting as Penelope's father decides after the first day of school to counsel her not to eat her classmates, and only gives her one juice box with 300 tuna sandwiches. Penelope learns her lesson when the tables are turned by an unexpected party.
December 28, 2018
4.5 STARS
A pero que libro tan bonito, los gráficos y paleta de colores transmite pura alegría.
La historia por otro lado te deja pensando, y reflexionando cual es el mensaje principal de esta.
En un inicio pensé que trataba sobre los problemas a los que te enfrentas cuando eres diferente a los demás, como nuestra protagonista Penélope, que era el único dinosaurio en un salón lleno de humanos.
Pero creo que el mensaje principal es como no aprendemos algo por más que nos lo digan, la verdadera forma de aprender algo es experimentándolo, o como en el caso de la pobre Penélope que por más que le decían que no se comiera a sus compañeros, y aunque ella misma tratara de no hacerlo, lo único que la hizo entender fue cuando el pescado intento comérsela a ella.
Y que cierto es eso, jamás nos damos cuenta, que tanto afectan nuestras accionas hasta que alguien nos hace lo mismo a nosotros.
Punto extra la diversidad de los niños de la clase de Penélope.
Qué bueno que está en los finalistas de los Goodreas Awards, sin duda lo vale.
A pero que libro tan bonito, los gráficos y paleta de colores transmite pura alegría.
La historia por otro lado te deja pensando, y reflexionando cual es el mensaje principal de esta.
En un inicio pensé que trataba sobre los problemas a los que te enfrentas cuando eres diferente a los demás, como nuestra protagonista Penélope, que era el único dinosaurio en un salón lleno de humanos.
Pero creo que el mensaje principal es como no aprendemos algo por más que nos lo digan, la verdadera forma de aprender algo es experimentándolo, o como en el caso de la pobre Penélope que por más que le decían que no se comiera a sus compañeros, y aunque ella misma tratara de no hacerlo, lo único que la hizo entender fue cuando el pescado intento comérsela a ella.
Y que cierto es eso, jamás nos damos cuenta, que tanto afectan nuestras accionas hasta que alguien nos hace lo mismo a nosotros.
Punto extra la diversidad de los niños de la clase de Penélope.
Qué bueno que está en los finalistas de los Goodreas Awards, sin duda lo vale.
March 18, 2020
Ihana!!!
Eskarijännitysta ja kaverin etsimistä voi käsitellä myös vähän roskimmalla otteella.
Pikkuinen Tyrannosaurus rex on menossa eskariin ja eka eskaripäivä jännittää. Eskaria varten on valittu hieno ponireppu (dino tykkää poneista, kun ne on niin ihanan herkullisia) ja reppuun on pakattu isin tekemät 300 tonnikalavoileipää. Eskarikaverit huolettavat, eikä syyttä. Ekana päivänä selviää, että luokka on täynnä herkullisia ihmislapsia, jotka on heti pakko haukata suihinsa.
Mutta voi! kavereita ei saa, jos kokoajan koittaa niitä haukata. Ja haukata ei saa vaikka ihmislapsi olisi läikyttänyt päälleen ihanan tuoksuista kastiketta. Myöskään liukumäen päässä ei kannata odottaa kavereita suu auki. Haukkaamiskuvia ei saa edes piirtää. Ihan kauhean vaikeata ymmärtää ja muistaa, ...kunnes luokan katala kultakala näyttää dinolle miten kurjaa on tulla haukatuksi.
Kirjassa käsitellään paitsi eskarijännitysta ja kaverihaasteita, myös sitä tärkeää, toisten satuttamista. Puremisesta, lyömisestä ja tönimisestä kysytään usein kirjoja, eikä niitä kauheasti ole. Tämän kirjan kautta voi niitäkin asioita yhdessä pohdiskella.
Mä niiiin haluan pitää satuhetken heti kunhan tää virusapocalypsi on ohi. Mä haluan nähdä lasten ilmeet kun dinosaurus muitta mutkitta pistelee poskeensa kaikki luokkavaverit! Ehkäpä pitäis jopa kehitellä isosuinen dinokäsinukke, joka vois napsia lapsia.... ja se aivan absurdi häijy kultakala<3.
Mä vien tän heti tänään kotiin ja luen mun teineille!
Eskarijännitysta ja kaverin etsimistä voi käsitellä myös vähän roskimmalla otteella.
Pikkuinen Tyrannosaurus rex on menossa eskariin ja eka eskaripäivä jännittää. Eskaria varten on valittu hieno ponireppu (dino tykkää poneista, kun ne on niin ihanan herkullisia) ja reppuun on pakattu isin tekemät 300 tonnikalavoileipää. Eskarikaverit huolettavat, eikä syyttä. Ekana päivänä selviää, että luokka on täynnä herkullisia ihmislapsia, jotka on heti pakko haukata suihinsa.
Mutta voi! kavereita ei saa, jos kokoajan koittaa niitä haukata. Ja haukata ei saa vaikka ihmislapsi olisi läikyttänyt päälleen ihanan tuoksuista kastiketta. Myöskään liukumäen päässä ei kannata odottaa kavereita suu auki. Haukkaamiskuvia ei saa edes piirtää. Ihan kauhean vaikeata ymmärtää ja muistaa, ...kunnes luokan katala kultakala näyttää dinolle miten kurjaa on tulla haukatuksi.
Kirjassa käsitellään paitsi eskarijännitysta ja kaverihaasteita, myös sitä tärkeää, toisten satuttamista. Puremisesta, lyömisestä ja tönimisestä kysytään usein kirjoja, eikä niitä kauheasti ole. Tämän kirjan kautta voi niitäkin asioita yhdessä pohdiskella.
Mä niiiin haluan pitää satuhetken heti kunhan tää virusapocalypsi on ohi. Mä haluan nähdä lasten ilmeet kun dinosaurus muitta mutkitta pistelee poskeensa kaikki luokkavaverit! Ehkäpä pitäis jopa kehitellä isosuinen dinokäsinukke, joka vois napsia lapsia.... ja se aivan absurdi häijy kultakala<3.
Mä vien tän heti tänään kotiin ja luen mun teineille!
November 23, 2018
Do we need to experience something first-hand in order to have empathy for the same thing happening to others? Does what we do to other people need to be done to us in order to change our own behavior? We Don't Eat Our Classmates suggests that is the case. Penelope T-Rex eats all her classmates on the first day of school. Then they don't want to be friends with her. Sometimes she occasionally eats one as a snack, but she spits them out quickly. Resisting the urge to eat children is hard. After a goldfish bites her finger, she realizes how much it must suck to be eaten, and she stops doing it. "Once Penelope found out what it was like to be someone' snack, she lost her appetite for children."
This is a popular narrative arc, both in children's and adult fiction. I've read many stories like this -- asshole is an asshole until someone is an asshole to them in the exact same way they're an asshole, then they change their ways. This is a cute twist on that trope, but is that the way it has to be? Is experiencing pain the only way to develop true empathy? Or is it just a more dramatic way to tell a story? Like Penelope lying awake thinking about how her classmates taste, I'll be up for a while thinking about these questions.
This is a popular narrative arc, both in children's and adult fiction. I've read many stories like this -- asshole is an asshole until someone is an asshole to them in the exact same way they're an asshole, then they change their ways. This is a cute twist on that trope, but is that the way it has to be? Is experiencing pain the only way to develop true empathy? Or is it just a more dramatic way to tell a story? Like Penelope lying awake thinking about how her classmates taste, I'll be up for a while thinking about these questions.
July 6, 2018
Oh. My. Goodness. Such a funny book. Absolutely hilarious. I love it. Immediately recommended it to a couple co-workers and friends and family members.
I love not only the illustrations and the story, but how it teaches empathy. Many young kids have trouble understanding that other people feel things, and how your actions can affect how they feel. Such a fun book to teach a deep concept!
I love not only the illustrations and the story, but how it teaches empathy. Many young kids have trouble understanding that other people feel things, and how your actions can affect how they feel. Such a fun book to teach a deep concept!
July 15, 2025
adorable
November 28, 2018
Penelope Rex sets out on her first day of school hoping to make friends, but her efforts are complicated by the fact that she can't seem to help eating them. After all, all her fellow pupils are human children, and children are very tasty! Although both her father and teacher tell her not to eat her classmates, she has trouble obeying - until the day she finds herself a snack as well...
Having greatly enjoyed author/illustrator Ryan T. Higgins' Mother Bruce and sequels, I was curious to see what he would do in this new venture. We Don't Eat Our Classmates is quite an amusing take on the classic "first day of school jitters" story! I found both text and artwork immensely droll, and can just imagine how this will go down at story-time, once it's out (I'm reading an advanced copy). Recommended to little dinosaur fans, and to any child who is nervous about starting school - at least they'll know, unlike Penelope, that they're not likely to be accused of eating their classmates!
Having greatly enjoyed author/illustrator Ryan T. Higgins' Mother Bruce and sequels, I was curious to see what he would do in this new venture. We Don't Eat Our Classmates is quite an amusing take on the classic "first day of school jitters" story! I found both text and artwork immensely droll, and can just imagine how this will go down at story-time, once it's out (I'm reading an advanced copy). Recommended to little dinosaur fans, and to any child who is nervous about starting school - at least they'll know, unlike Penelope, that they're not likely to be accused of eating their classmates!
April 12, 2020
Oh, my favorite kind of picture book! It teaches a lesson with wit that is hilarious, surprising, and a little bit dark. And it has perfectly matched art!
Here, a T. rex learns it is easier to make friends with your classmates if you aren't trying to eat them.
Here, a T. rex learns it is easier to make friends with your classmates if you aren't trying to eat them.
September 13, 2018
Love, love love! I laughed out loud reading this book to my littles tonight.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,787 reviews