Storybook Summer post by MaryAnne of Mama Smiles

The book When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach is a long-time favorite in our house, so I wasn’t surprised when six-year-old Emma picked it when I asked her to choose a book for a craft or activity! This whimsical story of a day when, instead of stickers or lollipops or balloons, children are handed real, live, full-size dinosaurs has captured the imaginations of my three oldest children – and it is a picture book that I am always happy to read, both for the story and David Small’s wonderful illustrations!

Emma also picked the craft for this story: miniature donuts made from cheerios and powdered sugar! She got the idea from the American Girls Tiny Treats book, which we recently borrowed from the library. Donuts are very central to When Dinosaurs Came With Everything – the main character receives his first dinosaur after buying a dozen donuts, which are then used to feed the dinosaurs he collects over the course of the day.

The kids really enjoyed shaking the cheerios with powdered sugar, and dipping cheerios in melted chocolate chips to make chocolate donuts!

The donuts were, of course, well-received by the dinosaurs – and their caretakers!

MaryAnne lives in Massachusetts, where she puts her degrees in Medicine, Education, and Music to use in untraditional ways as the stay-at-home mother of six-year-old Emma, four-year-old Johnny, three-year-old Lily, and two-week-old Anna. Her blog, Mama Smiles, focuses on joyful parenting through creativity, learning, and play, with occasional guest posts from husband Mike.

You can also find MaryAnne on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.