A bedtime book for those who dream of all things dino.
A glimpse at the inner lives of prehistoric beasts.
Klepeis pairs engaging stories about dinosaurs with key facts (size, diet, habits, habitat, etc.). The opening narrative sees two Anchiornis (a gliding, “near bird” therapod), their red combs and magpie-like white-striped wings making a vivid splash, as they vie for the same tasty small reptile. A raspy, odorous Spinosaurus swims after a lunch of giant sawfish. Understandably, many tales involve food-seeking and reproduction. Klepeis anthropomorphizes her subjects, imbuing them with thought and emotion; Spinosaurus “daydreams about tasty fish,” while elderly Brachiosaurus fondly reminisces about sparring with his young herd mates and meeting his romantic partner. Other stories involve cute, turkey-size T. rex babies nearly drowning in a storm, a young Leaellynasaura getting separated from his family, a Triceratops looking for love, and a clever Velociraptor outsourcing her egg-hatching duties. As in the other series volumes, use of onomatopoeia, presented in upper-case letters and boldface type, makes this one a fun read-aloud. Pronunciation help is included, along with an index and a glossary. Brightly colored realistic artwork sets these dinosaurs’ stories in a convincing world. The anecdotes are exciting, relatable, and not too far-fetched, providing an appealing context for the data.
A bedtime book for those who dream of all things dino. (Nonfiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781684495870
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Neon Squid/Macmillan
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A winning, and necessary, update to Kathleen Zoehfeld’s Terrible Tyrannosaurs (2001, illustrated by Lucia Washburn).
Tyrannosaurus rex poses with 10 recently discovered relatives in this toothy portrait gallery.
Speaking as “Dr. Steve,” co-author Brusatte—paleontologist and tyrannosaur lover—explains to young dinomanes how the titular tyranno (formally dubbed Qianzhousaurus, nicknamed for its long nose) was unearthed and reconstructed before going on to introduce nine other 21st-century discoveries. Each comes with a general description, a “fact file” of basic statistics, a collective timeline that neatly groups contemporaries, and a realistically posed and rendered individual portrait in a natural setting. Following a simple but effective activity involving chalk, a tape measure, and a very large expanse of concrete, an equally cogent infographic at the end illustrates size extremes in this prehistoric clan by juxtaposing images of a human child, a like-sized Kileskus, a full size T. Rex, and a (slightly smaller) school bus. The dinos display a wide range of coloration and skin and feather patterns as well as distinctive crests or other physical features, but Dr. Steve, who is white, is the only individualized human figure until a closing album of snapshot photos.
A winning, and necessary, update to Kathleen Zoehfeld’s Terrible Tyrannosaurs (2001, illustrated by Lucia Washburn). (pronunciation guide, glossary, museum list) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-249093-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
Budding biologists and others with an interest in what’s inside will be entranced.
Multilayered overlapping cutouts provide an unusually detailed 3-D look at T. Rex’s innards—or at least what can be deduced about them from the fossil record.
Visible through a big acetate window on the front cover, the cutouts peel back with each turn of a sturdy page—highlighting, for instance, realistically depicted arm and leg bones, major muscle groups, or reconstructions of pulmonary and other systems. Notes around the central die cut, embellished with painted illustrations, cautiously explain what researchers know or believe from modern survivals or related fossils about each bit or system. Young dinomanes get not only a vivid anatomy lesson from this, but also a clear notion of how profoundly paleontology is based on educated guesswork: “By studying modern animals with this body structure, such as giraffes…we can guess how T. rex’s body adapted….” Other entries in the Inside Out series present similar deconstructions of a (particular) Egyptian Mummy, a (generic) Human Body, and Sharks, with a melodramatically posed great white as exemplar. Models, most of them children, in side illustrations for Human Body are diverse in age and race.
Budding biologists and others with an interest in what’s inside will be entranced. (Informational novelty. 6-9)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7603-5533-6
Page Count: 16
Publisher: becker&mayer! kids
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
