LET'S TALK ABOUT DINOSAURS

A colorful gallery of dinos and their relatives, made from paint-sprayed paper collage and paired to questions and comments in large type.

Originally published overseas as Big Noisy Book of Dinosaurs (2009), this version features rearranged illustrations and an abridged text that, for all its short, simple sentences, is still well-stocked with mouth-filling monikers. "Mamenchiasaurus was a huge plant eater.” “Carcharodontosaurus was a giant meat eater.” “Eoraptor was about the same size as a child like you.” The information is all standard-issue. Along with accurately indicating that pterosaurs and certain sea creatures were reptiles but not true dinosaurs, the author provides requisite explanations of how dinosaurs went extinct, how some became fossils, and how some had birdlike characteristics. The art just comes along for the ride. Colors look dull, animals occasionally look at one another but seldom interact, and poses are nearly all side views. There is little to no sense of scale. An image of Eoraptor is larger than the Brachiosaurus on the opposite page, a pile of poop nearly rivals an adjacent Diplodocus for bulk, and because Teckentrup (or the designer) fits multiple full or near-full bodies on each spread at various removes and with little detail, the giant dinos often don’t look all that big.

“Think about Velociraptor when you see birds run across the grass.” But look elsewhere for visuals that are out of the ordinary.