DINOSAURS

A primary introduction to dinosaurs, with lots of flaps to lift and polysyllabic names to practice.

Melodrama trumps realism in the illustrations, as Shufflebotham picks hues for her stylized figures from the garish end of the palette and depicts most of her dinos in open-mouthed, menacing (if gore-free) poses. In contrast, the variously shaped and sized flaps are mostly used for informational purposes such as adding space for more pictures or transforming a fleshed-out specimen to a skeleton. Not all the dinosaurs are drawn to scale, but to compensate she adds translucent human silhouettes both to the simplified prehistoric backdrops and to some of the inset portraits. Baker’s commentary, divvied up into scattered one- or two-sentence bits, lays a sturdy foundation of fact by offering simply phrased observations about diet, defense, camouflage, and even evolutionary changes while replacing abstract numbers with vivid comparisons. Younger readers will find it hard to forget, for instance, that the teeth of T. rex were “each the size of a banana” or that Gallimimus “was as big as a rhinoceros but faster than a racehorse.” The author follows suit in the co-published Oceans and Seas, illustrated (in a more naturalistic style) by Gareth Lucas, by noting, for instance that “the colossal squid…can be as long as a bus.” Readers might wish for a little more information about some topics, such as just why or how the orca isn’t a whale but belongs to the dolphin family, but she does expand her survey of the oceans with mentions of plastic pollution and of waves as a source of “clean energy.” The movable elements in both outings are either folded from or firmly attached to sturdy stock.

Solid interactive fare for younger STEM-winders.