October 2026 will see What Rhymes with Pterodactyl?: The Worst Rhyming Book Ever by Raj Haldar and WeLove Studio. This is the latest book in the P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever series. The alphabet book is still my favorite, but this time we have another fun read that is not your everyday, basic rhyming book. Ptolemy the Pterodactyl loves poetry and rap and combines the two by using slant rhyme and internal rhyme to make things like orange actually have a real (ish) rhyming companion.
It is not for the very young, or the person who is a bit more traditional, but there will be a huge audience in the right classroom, library or personal collection. Things are clever, informative and fun. Overall, it is hard to explain as that takes away the experience of your own first time personal reading, but I will say, do not expect anything, just let it happen. It is the best way to enjoy it.
I will mention that this time around the illustrations were a bit off for me. They felt younger than they have in the past whereas the subject is more mature, or at least for a slightly older audience. It works for multiple ages, but the more cartoonish and lighthearted images could turn off the ages 8 and up crowd.
Because of this addition to the Haldar books, I plan on finding copies of the Alphabet title and No Reading Allowed: The Worst Read-Aloud Book Ever. I might also find a copy of Haldar’s This Book Is Banned as I think I read it, but can’t remember and that is always a good excuse to find something to read (again). Plus, I might look into locating copies of the Word Travelers series as Haldar seems like a fun author to read all they’ve written.
I read via an online reader copy.
