Digging Up Dinosaurs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) [Library Binding]

Aliki (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1988 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2

Have you ever been to a museum to see the dinosaur exhibit? Iguanodon, Apatosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus are all there. Where did these enormous skeletons come from and how did they get inside the museum?

Long ago, dinosaurs were everywhere. No one knows why they suddenly died out. Until a little over a hundred years ago, no one even knew they existed. Then people began finding fossils -- bones and teeth and footprints of dinosaurs that had turned into stone. What finds these were! Everyone clamored to see them.

But dinosaur bones don't walk into museums by themselves. A team of experts has to work together to dig them up and put them together again. Clear, easy-to-read text and exuberant full-color drawings by acclaimed author-illustrator Aliki detail how dinosaur skeletons are dug out of the ground, bone by fragile bone -- and then assembled to look like the dinosaurs of millions of years ago.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-- The most notable change in this revision is the pictures: bright crayon-colored drawings have replaced the drab gray and green illustrations of the earlier edition. The hand-lettered captions and the dialogue in balloons have been slightly enlarged, making them easier to read. Textual changes are slight; Brontosaurus is now called Apatosaurus, and some pages have been combined to streamline the book. Although the 1981 edition already depicted both men and women and people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, it's nice to be greeted by a smiling female paleontologist on the cover of the new edition. There's not much new information here, but the packaging is certainly more timely and appealing. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Aliki has written and illustrated many books, both fiction and nonfiction, loved by readers throughout the world. The books were inspired by a word, an experience, or the desire to find out. Aliki says, "I'm not so great at pushing buttons, but I know things happen when you do." Aliki lives in London, England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Collins; Revised edition (November 9, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0690047169
• ISBN-13: 978-0690047165
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,528,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Aliki is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children that are treasured by readers all over the world. Her many well-loved titles include My Visit to the Zoo, My Visit to the Aquarium, My Visit to the Dinosaurs, Wild and Woolly Mammoths, Tabby, and Those Summers. Aliki lives near the Globe theater, in London, England.

In Her Own Words..."Aliki grew up in Philadelphia in a big Greek family where everyone was busy creating and sharing their activities. She knew from the time she was in kindergarten that she wanted to bean artist, although music was also a natural talent. She was encouraged throughout her early life by her parents and by teachers she will never forget."She graduated from the Philadelphia Collegeof Art and started a career in advertising art. After she married Franz Brandenberg, Aliki continued her career in his country, Switzerland, where they lived for three years. It was there that she wrote and illustrated her first book, The Story of William Tell, which was published in England. When they moved to New York, Aliki wrote and illustrated My Five Senses--the book that changed the direction of her career and her life.

Although she had never thought of being a writer, Aliki has been making books ever since. Children's books, she says, are a combination of two things I love: words and pictures. I also love the privacy of books--both reading them and making them. Aliki writes fiction, in which she can express her feelings, and nonfiction research books about subjects she's interested in and wants to know more about. Each book is a new challenge; each is different, she says. The subject directs the way I illustrate a book, the same way friends bring out different parts of us. The challenge is to get the words right and then to make pictures that expand and enhance their meaning.""Besides her own books, Aliki has illustrated many written by Franz Brandenberg and other authors. Her two children are also in the arts. Jason is a filmmaker and Alexa is a children's book author-illustrator. They appear in almost all of her books as cats, mice, or themselves.

Aliki loves music, theater, cinema, museums, children, her cat, Nefertiti, and working in her garden in London, where she lives. She travels frequently to the U.S., Greece, Switzerland, and other parts of the world, though most of the time she is alone in her studio with the books she is working on--and Mozart."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy/ fun to read, comprehensive, informative, & great pics, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Digging Up Dinosaurs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Paperback)

I am six years old and in second grade. I needed a book for my report on Apatasaurus. This book was just perfect. I had to have 5 sources for my report, and this book was my favorite. I have a few other books on Dinosaurs from this author too. I like the way he writes. Thanks for your help with all the good information.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Amusing, March 24, 2007

By 

theboombody (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Digging Up Dinosaurs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Paperback)

I just thought this book was flat-out funny, for kids and adults. Although most of the humor is in the pictures, there's a little bit mixed in with the text as well.

Before reading this book, I didn't know that most dinosaur skeletons in museums were actually copies of real-life skeletons. But when you think about it, it makes sense. I mean, how many complete authentic T-rex skeletons are out there? Not too many. Got to have copies if you want people to see skeletons.

I kept looking for the author's last name in this book but never found it.

And you know, I always thought I'd be a paleontologist when I was a kid, and even though I don't want to be one anymore, it's still fun to read great stuff like this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old favorite, June 8, 2011

By 

Lachmot - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digging Up Dinosaurs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Paperback)

I grew up with the 1981 edition and I was thrilled when my parents brought it out for my kids. The clear and precise text has a nice flow that is better-suited to reading aloud than most science books. The pictures are humorous and include plenty of women paleontologists, making the 1981 book more modern in that respect at least than many of my sons' newer dino books. But it is special because, among the oodles of kids' dinosaur books out there, this is the one that puts it all into context for me, from the thrill of first Dinosaur discoveries of the mid 1800s ("What finds these were! People crowded into museums to see them...") to how scientists really do have to make educated guesses about how all those bones fit together. I'm delighted to see this still in print.