The Christmasaurus

Product Information

Watch this ‘Virtually Live’ video with the author Tom Fletcher. If you could ask him questions about his books, what would you like to find out? Tom also writes the incredibly successful Who's in Your Book? picture-book series and is one half of the author duo behind the Dinosaur that Pooped picture-book series too, which has sold over 1.5 million copies. The Christmasaurus wants more than anything to be able to fly, and help pull Santa's sleigh across the sky on Christmas Eve. But flying turns out to be much harder than he thought, even with Santa's help! One special Christmas, however, he falls down a chimney and meets a dinosaur-obsessed little boy who teaches him the magic of believing . . . The elves like to talk in rhyme. Could you try to have a rhyming conversation (or write a rhyming conversation between some elves)?

Well, what if I told you that he was about to step out of HIS story and into this one? And I'm afraid he's got some grand plans . . . he wants to CANCEL CHRISTMAS! William Trundle loves dinosaurs. In fact, he's obsessed with them. Meanwhile, his father is equally obsessed - but with Christmas. And of all the different kinds of beliefs there are, the belief of a child is by far the most unbelievably unstoppable.’ What are your beliefs? How have these changed over time? Every step you take away from the last Christmas brings you one step closer to the next’. Can you work out how many days / weeks / months it has been since last Christmas and how many it is until the next?

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And when they learn that the fate of Christmas itself hangs in the balance, William and the Christmasaurus must work with the Winter Witch to protect it... Read the prologue and plan / write an alternative story that describes what happens to the last remaining dinosaur egg when it is discovered. Create a picture of a Christmas bean and the toys that you would like for Christmas growing underground! Aside from that, life is fairly normal in the Trundle household. William goes to school, has plenty of friends and is quite happy being a wheelchair-user. All that changes however, when Brenda Payne (the most rotten girl in the world) starts at his school and makes him feel different.

Can you create your own illustrations of a ‘Christmasaurus’. What do you think it should look like? In Chapter Six, the elves look after the Christmasaurus. Can you write some instructions to remind them what to do every day?

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If you ever doubted that dinosaurs and Christmas would work well together, doubt no more. The book is bursting with loveable characters, fast-paced adventure and, of course, Christmas spirit. William is an enchanting protagonist, who successfully busts a few myths about disabled people and what they want.

Have you ever heard of Ebenezer Scrooge? The most miserly, miserable Christmas-hating miser from that very famous old book? The man who is more BAH HUMBUG than HO HO HO? Tom's books have been translated into thirty-nine languages, and to date he has sold over 5 million copies of his books in the UK alone. Meanwhile, in the North Pole, a rare dinosaur (indeed the last dinosaur alive) is in a similar position. The Christmasaurus loves his life, his elf friends and the delightfully jolly Santa Claus, but can't help but feel alone. Read the description of the Christmasaurus in Chapter Five. Can you write your own description of a magical creature? The Christmasaurus wants more than anything to be able to fly, and help pull Santa's sleigh across the sky at Christmas-time. But flying turns out to be a lot harder than he thought, even with Santa's help! One special Christmas, however, he falls down a chimney and meets a dinosaur-obsessed little boy who teaches him the magic of believing...

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

One Christmas, the two are thrown together in a tangle of tinsel as they fight off a dangerous hunter, with help from an unexpected source. Santa looks in a book to find out more information about the dinosaur, but there isn’t anything there. Could you write a non-fiction report about the Christmasaurus to help Santa? The mining elves wait for the Northern Lights before they start to dig up the Christmas toys. What are the Northern Lights? Chapter Five ends with the line ‘It was a Christmas Eve that none of them would ever forget.’ Can you use this as the first line in a completely different story? The book begins with the line, ‘This story starts like all good stories do, a long time ago.’ Could you use this as the opening line of your own story?