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THE DAY THE DINOSAURS DIED by Charlotte Lewis Brown

THE DAY THE DINOSAURS DIED

by Charlotte Lewis Brown & illustrated by Phil Wilson

Pub Date: June 1st, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-000528-9
Publisher: HarperCollins

Paleontologist Brown presents developing readers with a vividly imagined recreation of an asteroid impact and its immediate and subsequent effects on the dinosaurs. She sets up her scenario with an introductory, “It may have happened like this . . . ” and follows with action-filled narration that finds a T. rex peacefully chowing down on an Edmontosaurus while behind him a “strange new light” appears in the sky. After immediately incinerating the giant carnivore, the asteroid’s wave of destruction moves outward, mowing down Triceratops and Alamosaurus with equal abandon. Although they are not killed in the initial impact, a herd of Parasaurolophuses, who hide in caves in the far north, slowly starve to death upon reemerging into a blasted world. Clearly, there’s more than enough violence and destruction to delight the most jaded eight-year-old, all related in the simple and forthright vocabulary and syntax of an I Can Read! entry. Wilson’s illustrations add stripes and other splashes of color to the dinosaurs’ hides, as well as expressions of alarm to their faces, the scenes of destruction appropriately garish and full of motion. Sure to find its audience. (author’s note, pronunciation guide) (Easy reader/nonfiction. 6-9)