A decent conversation starter for the youngest dinosaur enthusiasts.
Meet a selection of the intriguing lizards that once walked the Earth in this introductory primer for preschool paleontologists.
Another in the series of Hello, World! science-for-toddlers books, this volume presents, in very simple form, a few basic concepts about the study of dinosaurs via their fossilized remains. The first four pages introduce the idea that scientists find the bones of long-gone dinosaurs in the ground, reassemble them, and display the completed skeletons in museums. A white female paleontologist and a brown-skinned male colleague use an assortment of simple tools to extract bones from layers of earth and sediment. A roundup of a fair sampling of dinos, presented in a series of informative, easily digested two-page spreads, fills out the balance of the book. The artwork features a broad palette of bright colors, but the blocky and crudely representational figures, though easily read, have an almost South Park quality. The dinosaurs depicted have goofy, nonthreatening smiles and awkward, oddly jointed limbs, so the scenes lack the primordial majesty that a more lifelike rendering would convey. In all, the book presents eight different dinosaurs and a few fun facts about each, covering eating habits (plants? meat?), armor, teeth, height, etc.
A decent conversation starter for the youngest dinosaur enthusiasts. (Board book. 2-6)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1934-0
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Sure to appeal to budding paleontologists everywhere.
Colorful, fun, and informative guide for pint-sized dinosaur enthusiasts.
Kid-friendly and more informative than most dino books for tots, this lift-the-flap dinosaur book is a great next step for any kid with an interest in the subject. Each double-page panorama—occasionally folding out to three or even four pages wide—is organized around types of dinosaurs or habitats. While most featured dinosaurs are land dwellers, prehistoric reptiles of the sea and sky appear as well. Dinosaurs are rendered in bright colors on a white background in a childlike style that makes even Tyrannosaurus rex not too terrifying. Make no mistake, though; the king of the dinosaurs is clearly labeled “CARNIVORE.” Folding T. rex’s head back reveals a black-and-white handsaw, to which the text likens its enormous, sharp teeth. Another marginal illustration, captioned, “Watch out! T. rex is looking for its lunch,” shows a Triceratops specimen on a plate. Yet another reads, “Crushed dinosaur bones have been found in T. rex poop!” Several racially diverse kids appear in each scene, like toddler scientists variously observing, inspecting, and riding on the dinosaurs depicted. In addition to teaching the difference between herbivores and carnivores, the book also conveys a sense of the scale of these prehistoric beasts: Diplodocus is two school buses long, a Triceratops adult is the size of an elephant, and a Velociraptor is the size of a turkey, for example.
Sure to appeal to budding paleontologists everywhere. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0809-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Fine fare for younger dinophiles alone, one-on-one, or in herds.
A low-key 3-D portrait gallery of dinos and prehistoric reptiles.
Showing considerable improvement over the lackadaisically designed dinos he made for Sheri Safran’s Dinosaurs! (2015), the 15 models that paper engineer Hawcock presents here sport natural-looking parts and poses. Some, such as a marine Elasmosaurus raising its sinuous neck as the spread opens and T. Rex flashing its toothy dentifrice directly at viewers, even offer realistic movement. Other effects include a Brachiosaurus that sticks its head up high above the top of the book (it will surely be the first to tear off) and a small flock of Coelophysis that race along at three levels of depth. Illustrator Davey kits nearly all out in brightly contrasting skin patterns or dramatic sprays of feathers, and he places each against plain or minimally detailed backgrounds to make shapes and colors pop. He sticks to mostly subdued earth or marine tones—even the turkeylike Oviraptor sports fairly staid plumage. Aside from polysyllabic one-word labels in big type with pronunciation guides beneath, there is no text.
Fine fare for younger dinophiles alone, one-on-one, or in herds. (Novelty picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0566-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Candlewick Studio
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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