Customer Reviews

Dinosaur Name Poems/Poemas De Nombres De Dinosaurios (English and Spanish Edition)

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I read this delightful book with my two grandsons. We had great fun. We were surprised to find that a dinosaur that was as vicious looking as the Velociraptor was common egg thief.
We recommend this book to any young dinophiles.

Dinosaur Name Poems is a wonderful collection of thirty poems that introduces children to the world of the dinosaurs and explains the meaning of those very-difficult-to-pronounce dinosaur names. Author, Steven Cunningham, does an admirable job rhyming some very long words (gracious, ostentatious, Compsognathus), and it's clear that he enjoys doing so. Also impressive is the fact that the Spanish translations also rhyme.

The witty poems are accompanied by whimsical watercolor illustrations of the now-extinct reptiles.

This is a great book for young dinosaur lovers. My dinosaur lover, age six, really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too. I found the glossary of technical terms and prehistoric creatures at the end of the book , to be very imformative, and I enjoyed testing my knowledge of Spanish when reading the Spanish translations. This is a book I would highly recommend.

This book is a collection of poems about dinosaur names, written in English
and Spanish, and richly illustrated with the named dinosaurs. The book
is primarily aimed at children 4-12 years old, but can profitably be read
by persons of all ages, who wish to learn some elementary dinosaur
nomenclature, or who wish to build up their elementary skills in English
or Spanish. The end of the book includes an alphabetical glossary of all
the dinosaurs named in the book: the etymology of dinosaur names (e.g.,
archaeopteryx ("ancient wing"): archaio = ancient, pteryx = wing), diet,
locomotion, and interesting notes. In a sense, the reader gets four languages
for the price of two, since dinosaur word-roots are Latin and Greek,
the two languages which contribute most of the vocabulary to modern science
and technology. Children who learn these word-roots will meet them again
in their general science, chemistry, and biology courses.

In the golden age of poetry, from William Shakespeare and Miguel
de Cervantes-Saavedra to the end of the nineteenth century, poetry
had a larger purpose than collections of catchy words and phrases
about love, war, and wilderness scenery. The best poets were
not only masters of rhyme, dactyls, and hexameters, but also understood
the theology, cosmology, natural science, and medicine of their day.
Long before I ever saw their words on the printed page, my dad took
our family on long Sunday drives, and recited poems of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.,
as he drove us along the rural roads of central Michigan. This was
my first, pre-school education. The present book returns to that
grand tradition. The author is not only a poet, but also a chemist,
linguist, surgeon, and father. The book is more than pretty pictures
and belles lettres; it is a serious educational work, approved
by the Teacher Programs at the Paleontological Research Institution,
at Cornell University. In rhymed cadences, we learn that the oviraptor,
meaning "egg thief", eats the eggs of other dinosaurs, and we see
an accompanying, vivid illustration of the oviraptor, that grabs
the imagination of the young student. This is poetry in action.

I have three minor quibbles. First, since the Glossary is in alphabetical
order but the poems for each dinosaur are non-alphabetical, it would
be handy to have a page number attached to each glossary entry,
that refers the reader back to the original poem. This way, the reader
who wishes to reread the poem for a particular dinosaur, can find that
poem easily. Another useful addition to the glossary would be to place
each dinosaur into its corresponding geological time-frame, perhaps with
a summary of the major geological time-frames for dinosaur at the
beginning of the glossary.

Second, I know that the Glossary is not a scholarly work, but the reader
should be told that the word-roots are Latin and ancient Greek. Perhaps
a few young minds will be stimulated to dig deeper, and explore this
lingistic heritage that underlies Western civilization. If foreign alphabets
are deemed not too threatening for young minds, then the Greek roots
could be displayed in the Greek alphabet, as well as in Romanized form.

[...]
The authors should consider including some of their academic references,
opinions, and translator notes that they collected in preparing this book,
for perusal on the publisher website.

Quibbles notwithstanding, this is a fabulous little book. Every child
should have this book on his/her bookshelf.

[...]

Although my second language is German, my college student son is minoring in Spanish and strives to counsel children. We read this together and absolutely loved it! The dinosaurs come alive as you read about them and we found great humor in comparing many of the descriptions to people in our lives.
This is a colorful, easily understood and wonderful educational resource for all!
Cathy "Rex" Stanfield

I wasn't sure my little girl (now 18 months) would be as into this book as some of her others. She loves it! She enjoys the rhymes and acting out the different dinosaur characteristics as described in the poems. We have now given this book twice as a birthday gift!

Wonderful book for young and old. Great source to learn about prehistoric creatures, made fun. Awesome poems in English, translated in Spanish along with colorful illustrations. BRILLIANT! Great gift to add to any collection! Easy read and even has a short write up on these dinosaurs! So much I didn't know about each of these creatures!

The vibrant colors on the front cover was what drew my attention to this book...at first. But, once I opened the book and started reading, I could not stop turning each page that followed. This book was so intriguing and fun that both young and old will enjoy for years to come! Highly recommend!

This unique childrens' book delights in a number of ways. Cunningham's poems are educational, sweet, surprising and just plain fun. Younger children will love the whimsical illustrations, while older children (and adults) will treasure the poems, and all will learn something about dinosaurs. The simultaneous use of English and Spanish will fascinate any curious child. Kudos to Three Conditions Press for publishing this little gem.

This book is sure to entertain any dinosaur loving child. It's full of facts, has colorful, humorous illustrations, a glossary, and engaging poems. Best of all the accuracy of this English and Spanish poetry volume has been certified by a real paleontologist!Dinosaur Name Poems/Poemas De Nombres De Dinosaurios

English/Spanish book for kids, my toddler loves it, illustrations are very well done. Good explanations of word origins, it will be a hit for years to come