Kathy Wilmore

Dinosaurs! offers a very good introduction to the great beasts for children of middle school age and junior high school. The full- color illustrations are lavish and dominate the book, while the accompanying the text is informative and interesting. The book is organized chronologically, and a timeline at the top of each page reminds the reader of the time frame, as one progresses through the Mesozoic. Thus, in the Triassic (the first of the three Mesozoic periods) we’re introduced successively to “plant-eaters,” “meat eaters,” and flying reptiles (which are not technically dinosaurs) -- including Pteranodon, with its 6-ft long head and 30 foot wingspan. In the Jurassic, we meet the herbivorous “giants” (such as Mamenchisaurus, with its 36-ft neck), armored forms, meat-eaters, dino-birds, and in the Cretaceous, the hadrosaurs, the bone-heads (pachycephalosaurs), ankylosaurs, horned dinosaurs (ceratopsians), dromaeosaurs, oviraptors, bird mimics (ornithomimids), and tyrannosaurs. The information is accurate and largely up-to-date. However, the knowledgeable reader will be aware that Archaeopteryx is no longer "the oldest known feathered animal." On the other hand, the book corrects the misconception that the misnamed "oviraptor" was an egg thief.

The illustrations are truly excellent, and the text engages the reader with fascinating information. I gladly recommend this book, for kids and anyone else who'd like to learn some basics about dinosaurs.… (mehr)

I liked this book, which really surprised me. The main reason I liked this book was that it broadens the perspective of the reader, while also having writing that is engaging with illustrations that show examples of what the book is talking about. As it is a book that explains what school was like back in the colonial times, it allows the reader to learn about a time that is much different from our own. One of the subjects they talk about it what the teacher taught her students, which was only reading and some arithmetic; very different from all the subjects we are taught now these days. The writing also uses words that is not used in every day vocabulary and keeps the reader engaged. Using words that are not used makes the reader use their context clues to figure it out; one word is reciting and it is used in conjunction with poems. There is a glossary in the back of the book for readers who cannot figure it out. The illustration always has something to do with the written text on the page opposite it, and adds to the written text, expanding it. One example of this is when talking about school supplies; the image that goes along with it is the hornbook, which is a wooden board with the alphabet and scripture. The message behind this book is to let readers know what olden days were like in a school setting.… (mehr)