Review: T-Rex Trying

T-Rex Trying

Author: Hugh Murphy
Pages: 128
Publisher: Plume
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Source: Unsolicited Copy from Publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Poor T-Rex. It’s hard to be the Lizard King when you can’t even change a light bulb.

Drawn from Hugh Murphy’s wildly popular Tumblr feed of the same name, T-Rex Trying depicts the stubby-armed tyrant in a range of hilarious—yet pathos-inducing—activities that we humans take for granted. Murphy’s 100 drawings include:

T-Rex Trying to Paint His House
T-Rex Trying to Use a Drive-Through ATM
T-Rex Trying to Apply Sunscreen
T-Rex Trying to Break Into a Vending Machine
T-Rex Trying to Ask for a New Roll of Toilet Paper from the Next Stall

Looks like the ancient beast isn’t so tough after all.

First Sentence: "T-Rex trying to paint his house."

Review:

An unsolicited copy of this showed up at my house and, ordinarily, I review unsolicited books when I can and don't give them priority. With my current schedule, had this not been a picture book, it would not have gotten reviewed so soon. However, it is a picture book, and it's about a dinosaur, so there really was no reason not to go ahead and read it.

T-Rex Trying is pretty much exactly what it sounds and looks like. It's a T-Rex trying to do various mundane tasks that humans can accomplish with ease. For the most part, he finds them quite difficult for four reasons: his massive size, his taste for creatures, his intimidating appearance, or his tiny little arms. Basically, if you are endlessly amused by the following gif, you will snort with laughter at T-Rex Trying:

There are various samples of these on the internet, so I'll share a couple of my favorites:

Some of the pictures reference others. On the first page, the T-Rex tries to paint his house, and here, you can still see his attempt in the background. Don't you just feel bad for the poor guy? At least until you see the ones where he's eaten the horse he was trying to ride or the flock of sheep he was watching over...

In his mind, he has the most muscular arms. He can do anything. Very cute.

There may be nothing happier than that T-Rex having finally found a wheeled vehicle he can ride. Just look at him go!

T-Rex Trying is good for a laugh, for children and adults alike.

Rating: 4/5