Candy and the Cankersaur by Jason Sandberg
Review by Lauren
Buy the Kindle Copy today for $1.99
copy sent for review, but all opinions are my own
Official Summary: This is the sweet and funny tale of a young girl named Candy and her Cankersaurus Rex! Candy receives a dinosaur as a gift and is determined to train him to be a good pet.
Review: Candy and the Cankersaur is an adorable picture book written and illustrated by Jason Sandberg. The illustrations throughout are like the cover above, so you get cartoon-ish (in a good way) drawings full of color and whimsy. The overall story is about a girl named Candy whose father gives her many unique gifts in order to spend all his time working. The next door neighbor, Chucky, is jealous of Candy and makes his parents buy him larger versions of the gifts Candy gets. However, when Candy is gifted an actual dinosaur, named Cank, Chucky must come up with a new plan to beat Candy.
There are various messages in this book if you’re looking for that, though nothing is stated outright. There are no big “lessons learned” portion of the novel. It simply ends in a happy manner for all. However, if you want to find some lessons or message to talk about with your children, you could. There is the aspect of Chucky’s jealousy and the right way to go about making friends. On a bigger scale, you could discuss Candy’s father and how he gives her gifts instead of spending time with his daughter.
Each page in this book has a large, colored picture and the narrative of the story is below. I liked this, especially for a younger reader or for reading aloud, because there is plenty of illustrations to keep their attention. I think a lot of kids would enjoy this one because it has adventure, some humor, and a loveable dinosaur that most kids would want as a pet by the end of this novel!
Make it a Gift
Since the book is only available as an e-book, I think it would be fun to add something else to this story for the child to enjoy. How about a dinosaur stuffed animal they can cuddle with while you read the story at night?
Aurora World has a T-Rex stuffed animal for only $13.00, though Amazon might have it for cheaper.
That stuffed animal is so cute! 🙂
That T-Rex is adorbs. But I don't like buying stuffed animals online because I like to see how soft and plush they are! (I mean, I buy ones online that I've seen in person first, like the Jellycat bunny I give for baby showers.)
This sounds so cute! And I love that dinosaur. I can't wait until I have kids so I have an excuse to buy cuddly toys again haha
– Allie @ Little Birdie Books
Looks adorable and it would be fun to have the animal with it
This is so cute and colorful! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Aww, my daughter would love this! I've heard of this book before. It's great to know that it's worth the read!
Aww, my daughter would love this! I've heard of this book before. It's great to know that it's worth the read!
Aww, my daughter would love this! I've heard of this book before. It's great to know that it's worth the read!
Oh you are right. I love giving kids something tangible to hold that goes with the story. This one sounds really cute too.
That stuffed animal is too cute!
This sounds like a cute read 🙂 and would be a good gift for a kid.
Janina @ Synchronized Reading
I love the description of this book. I've been reading more picture books lately. Maybe I'll come across this.
That stuffed animal is ADORABLE! I read this one too and thought it was really cute!
Oh this sounds so sweet! I have never heard of this book but it sounds so sweet. And that stuffed animal is really adorable! 🙂 Great review 🙂
I think this is the type of novel my sister would enjoy. The stuffed toy is adorable!
Lovely review, Lauren! <33
This sounds cute and I love the idea of pairing it with a cute dinosaur toy – perfect gift!