When her father must complete a project, and can't play outside with her, young Emily is hurt and angry, storming out to the backyard and creating a snow dinosaur that she names Grizzle. Originally a Dilophosaurus, Grizzle grows and grows, as Emily continues to 'feed' her, becoming a Megalosaurus, then an Allosaurus, and finally, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. As an expression of Emily's anger, Grizzle is more than a little frightening, especially when her father finally joins her, and Grizzle turns on him! Luckily, Emily is standing by, and manages to tackled Grizzle to the ground (and back into snow) before any damage is done...

Making Grizzle Grow is another creative picture-book examination of the child-parent bond from Canadian children's author Rachna Gilmore, whose When-I-Was-A-Little-Girl dealt with a young girl and her mother, and the problematic nature of comparisons. Here we have a young girl and her father, and the resolution of some feelings of disappointment and resentment, when the father cannot immediately join Emily in her outdoor play. I liked the way in which Grizzle represents Emily anger - continually growing as Emily feeds it - and the ambiguous way in which the imaginary (is Emily feeding Grizzle actual food?) and the real (or is Emily building her snow dinosaur bigger and bigger with actual snow?) meet up in this story. The resolution, in which Emily 'saves' her father from Grizzle, felt a little contrived to me, but was satisfyingly happy, for all that, and the illustrations by Leslie Elizabeth Watts were colorful and appealing. All in all, a fun 'family story' for young readers, one I would recommend to children who have felt irritated with their parents, from time to time. Which is most children, I imagine... ( )

Reviewed by Janice Del Negro (Booklist, Jan. 1, 2008, Vol. 104, No. 9)

Reviewed by Helen Norrie (CM Magazine, November 9, 2007, Vol. 14, No. 6)
'Readers can immediately see when Emily is angry, impatient, scared and contented.'

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol14/no6/makinggrizzlegrow.html