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
O’Brien celebrates 14 prehistoric monsters by presenting each with a modern object or a human, thereby giving readers information about the size of these giants. Dinosaurs, in full-color and full-snarl, dominate the double-page layouts as they frolic and menace an airplane, fire truck, tank, automobile, and assorted people. For every creature, O’Brien provides the name, its meaning, and a brief line of text. Three of the creatures presented are not dinosaurs at all—Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur, Phobosuchus, a relative of the crocodiles, and Dinichthys, a bony fish—which the author mentions in the back matter. The illustrations are not drawn to scale, e.g., if Spinosaurus is really 49 feet long, as the text indicates, the car it is shown next to would appear to be 30 feet long. Readers may have to puzzle over a few scenes, but will enjoy browsing through this book, from the dramatic eyeball view of a toothy Tyrannosaurus rex on the cover to the final head-on glare from a Triceratops. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5738-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The utterly winsome Sammy (and his crabby, TV-narcotized sister) is featured in a fine little story from Whybrow (The Snow King, p. 806, etc.) about the pleasures of friends who happen to be of a different species. Up in the attic with his grandmother, Sammy comes across a box full of old dinosaur toys. He shuttles the box downstairs, doctors the dinosaurs that need doctoring, bathes and buffs them all, and then, next day, trundles to the library to discover their names. While this is going on, captured in handsome pen-and-wash artwork, the beasts shuffle about, but only to Sammy’s knowledge. When every one of them is properly bestowed with a name—anchisaurus, brontosaurus, scelidosaurus, etc.—the dinosaurs say, ‘’ ‘Thank you, Sammy.’ They said it very quietly, but just loud enough for Sammy to hear.” Now fast friends, they nonetheless become separated when Sammy inadvertently leaves them on the train. Sammy is deeply unhappy; he inquires after them at the station, but the “Lost and Found” man says, “How do we know they are your dinosaurs?” A blind-identification test confirms that fact: ‘’ ‘All correct!’ said the man. ‘These are definitely your dinosaurs! Definitely!’ ‘’ Quietly, the dinosaurs concur: ‘’ ‘You’re definitely our Sammy. Definitely!’ ‘’ This is a beautiful, cheering story full of offbeat charm. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30207-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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