Romping, stomping images don’t compensate for target-audience confusion.
Welcome to the world of the dinosaurs.
Despite the subtitle, this likely won’t be children’s first book of dinosaurs—most little ones’ first exposure to the ancient reptiles will likely come well before they’re old enough to read a relatively complex text like this. Even a 7-year-old might be stymied by comparing a dinosaur’s weight to “100 grand pianos” or “350 reindeer,” let alone to “10,000 cats.” And vocabulary such as quadruple, clamber, kazoo, and magma might trip them up. The author implies that Cedarosaurus produced a stench comparable to “a massive moving compost bin” (though proper compost shouldn’t have an unpleasant odor). Saying that “dinosaurs can’t swim” misses a key distinction between several that could floppily flounder and those that could smoothly stroke—probably only Spinosaurus. (Too late for this book, the 12/22 discovery of an aquatic dinosaur, Natovenator polydontus, dethroned Spinosaurus.) An allusion to dinosaur development fails to mention evolution. The reign of dinosaurs here ends in fire with the asteroid apocalypse. A simplified timeline puts Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus in the same period, though they were separated by at least 30 million years. The text is arranged in verse, some actually poetic, while other bits are amusing and imaginative but short on information. Colorful, Carle-inspired illustrations are the best part of this book: They would make fantastic posters.
Romping, stomping images don’t compensate for target-audience confusion. (Nonfiction. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781536231243
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Not the duo’s best, but fans will enjoy the effort.
“There was an old scientist who swallowed a dinosaur. / I don’t know why she swallowed a dinosaur, but she went to explore.”
She swallows a fern to feed the saurian, then a rock and a pick and a dustpan. In between the old scientist’s gastronomical feats, two children, one tan-skinned and one light-skinned—ask each other questions or spout facts about dinosaurs and paleontology. “Fossils are rocks containing traces of the past.” “Evidence of plants and animals built to last!” The book, the latest of Colandro’s many takes on the “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” song, closes with the old scientist, the kids, and the dinosaurs visiting a museum of natural history. With a rhyme scheme that is often as strained as the conceit of the voracious old lady, Colandro makes another foray into nonfiction that is relatively light on facts (previous titles have explored holidays, the seasons, astronomy, and undersea life). Lee is again along to offer his signature bug-eyed and scribbly illustrations that can be a bit unnerving at times. The children’s rhyming banter in speech bubbles interrupts the old lady patter, making the whole at once familiar and clunky. Paleo facts and a scavenger hunt at the end might add to the instruction and the fun respectively. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not the duo’s best, but fans will enjoy the effort. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-66840-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Here’s hoping this will inspire many children to joyfully engage in writing.
Both technique and imaginative impulse can be found in this useful selection of poems about the literary art.
Starting with the essentials of the English language, the letters of “Our Alphabet,” the collection moves through 21 other poems of different types, meters, and rhyme schemes. This anthology has clear classroom applications, but it will also be enjoyed by individual readers who can pore carefully over playful illustrations filled with diverse children, butterflies, flowers, books, and pieces of writing. Tackling various parts of the writing process, from “How To Begin” through “Revision Is” to “Final Edit,” the poems also touch on some reasons for writing, like “Thank You Notes” and “Writing About Reading.” Some of the poems are funny, as in the quirky, four-line “If I Were an Octopus”: “I’d grab eight pencils. / All identical. / I’d fill eight notebooks. / One per tentacle.” An amusing undersea scene dominated by a smiling, orangy octopus fills this double-page spread. Some of the poems are more focused (and less lyrical) than others, such as “Final Edit” with its ending stanzas: “I check once more to guarantee / all is flawless as can be. / Careless errors will discredit / my hard work. / That’s why I edit. / But I don’t like it. / There I said it.” At least the poet tries for a little humor in those final lines.
Here’s hoping this will inspire many children to joyfully engage in writing. (Picture book/poetry. 7-10)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68437-362-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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