You Can't Be A Pterodactyl

I have great news if you’ve ever wanted to be a giant flying prehistoric reptile. I also have pretty okay news if you merely like reading heartwarming picture books about kids who have that goal. My next book, You Can't Be A Pterodactyl, comes out July 25th. You might be confused because, in the first sentence of this email, I very clearly implied that you could be a pterodactyl. Just wait for the big twist. Don’t worry, it’s not that the main character was dead the whole time. The Sixth Sense would make a very bad children’s picture book. Also, I hear that M. Night Shyamalan likes to sue.

This new release won’t affect my progress on my other projects. I’m still hard at work on the sequel to The Chosen Twelve. The book business has a long lead time. I finished You Can’t Be A Pterodactyl years ago, and it’s been working its way through the gears of the publishing industry ever since. This is my first time working with a Big Five publisher (the Nancy Paulsen Books imprint with Penguin Random House) and a professional illustrator. Sophie Corrigan handled the art. You’ve probably seen her adorable stuff all over the internet. She's illustrated more books than I can count and is a far more talented creative partner than I deserved. She really turned this book into something special.

It even got a write-up from Kirkus, which is kind of a big deal, at least to my fellow book nerds. The review had nice things to say, which you probably guessed or I wouldn’t be telling you about it. My shameless self-promotion isn’t exactly subtle. Anyway, here’s the review:

It is possible to be whatever you want.

When his teacher tells students they can be anything they want, Tommy announces his ambition: to be a pterodactyl. Unsurprisingly, classmates jeer. Tommy’s sure a pterodactyl’s diet of live fish would be an improvement over cafeteria fare; living in a cave in a cliff overlooking the sea where no one could visit him sounds ideal; and, as he explains to the bus driver, people would pay him, as a pterodactyl, not to pick them up and fly them places. Kids on the bus tease him mercilessly. When Tommy arrives home, his dad listens to him carefully and suggests that Tommy “live like a pterodactyl, even if on the outside you still look like Tommy.” Dad accepts and understands his son’s aspirations, and the two pretend to be pterodactyls all afternoon. The result: Because of his strongly held, actually logical beliefs and dad’s affirmation, Tommy does grow up to be a pterodactyl—sort of; kids will cheer the satisfying, makes-perfect-sense ending. This empowering story is all about having seemingly unattainable goals and being lucky enough to have supporters willing to help achieve them. Tommy’s a sweet, realistic, albeit dreamy, character; his dad, a model, caring parent. The colorful, somewhat stylized illustrations are lively and humorous. Tommy and his dad are light-skinned. Classmates and school personnel are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Affirmation that you can have dreams the size of a prehistoric flying reptile. (Picture book. 5-8)

As always, pre-orders are super helpful and can make or break a book. Check it out at the link below. Choose Main Street Books if you’d like a signed copy.

Pre-Order Here

If you think this is something you could enjoy with your kids, or if you are a kid who somehow hijacked your parents’ email account, please consider giving the book a chance. The world needs more pterodactyls.

James