What kind of parent was Tyrannosaurus rex? Were theropods more like birds or crocodiles? Was Oviraptor an egg thief or a protective parent? Older dinosaur readers will delight in this up-to-date exploration of scientists’ changing ideas about dinosaurs and how they raised their young. The author recreates scenes of dinosaur families—Oviraptor, Maiasaura, Troodon, and Tyrannosaurus rex—and the lavish illustrations help to make it clear. Zoehfeld then carefully documents the discoveries and evidence of paleontologists that supports the changing theories about how dinosaurs lived and raised their families. Her lively presentation challenges the reader and presents science as an exciting, unfolding mystery with many clues still unsolved. There are full-color photographs of working paleontologists and stunning photographs of dinosaur eggs, bones, and embryos. Coverage is from the Gobi Desert expedition of 1923, which first discovered dinosaur eggs, to findings in Patagonia in 1998 of tiny embryonic titanosaurs. And the author notes: “As for tyrannosaurs, stegosaurs, and the hundreds of other types of dinosaurs, the clues that will shed light on their secret lives are still out there in the rocks, waiting to be found.” Fascinating. (suggested reading, glossary, dinosaur dictionary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-395-91338-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
When Uncle Wolfe takes them on a dinosaur hunt, orphaned twins Grace and Marty find themselves in a B-movie with email. When the twins’ explorer parents vanish in the Amazon (to be found in the next book?), mischief-maker Marty and genius scaredy-cat Grace go to live on Uncle Wolfe’s private island. Wolfe hunts cryptids: mythical creatures such as Yetis, Kraken, and Chupacabras. Though he doesn’t intend to bring the children on his dinosaur hunt in the Congo, they arrive anyway, after falling from his airplane into the darkest jungle, accompanied only by a teacup poodle, a chimpanzee named Bo, and a high-end Gizmo complete with videoconferencing. There the children must reunite with their uncle, find the mythic dinosaur Mokèlè-mbembè, and avoid the minions of evil Dr. Blackwood. Luckily there are friendly Pygmies to help. And what is the deep, dark secret that has given Grace nightmares all her life—and what does it have to do with Dr. Blackwood? Enjoyably rollicking adventures are appropriately cheesy; the stereotypes, though equally fitting, are a bit much. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-5161-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2004
Setting story aside, the primary duty of Bluebonnet, an armadillo, is to aid and abet the public relations efforts of the Texas tourism industry. The only issue that could be construed as a character-driven conflict in this title is that Bluebonnet has missed Marshall’s Fire Ant Festival. Her real purpose, however, is to visit the Marshall train depot. Even when a fence bars her from entering that duly-described edifice, the fetching armadillo’s problem melts away under the benign gaze of T.P., a cat whose name stands for the Texas & Pacific. The two become ever-smilin’ buddies as T.P. tells Bluebonnet all manner of things of interest mostly to Texans and tourists. Texas schoolchildren helped mount a campaign to save the depot from demolition, readers learn, although they don’t learn why. Vincent’s illustrations offer a sense of the depot’s early-1900s bustle, however, and his critters are cute as can be. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56554-311-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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