Dinosaur Characters
Dinosaurs are the archetype where the child is the expert, and it is worth deferring to that. A child who has drawn a specific species will notice immediately if the story treats it as a generic dinosaur, so name the species and let the real facts about it shape what the character can do.
Making a dinosaur into a character
Use the actual species
Not "a dinosaur" — a Stegosaurus, and one that knows it is not a fast runner.
Let the real facts do work
What it ate, how it moved and who it lived alongside are all plot, and all true.
Size against everything else
Half the pleasure of a dinosaur character is scale. Establish it early.
A small want
An enormous creature with a very small problem is reliably funny.
Questions to ask your child about their drawing
- What kind of dinosaur is it?
- What does it eat?
- Is it faster or slower than you?
- What is its name?
- Who are its friends?
Common questions
- Are the dinosaur facts accurate?
- The diet, size and habitat details are written to be accurate for the species named. A dinosaur holding a conversation is, of course, a liberty.