Customer Reviews

If the Dinosaurs Came Back (Harcourt Brace Big Books)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book for young children. It brings to life the ideas that probably float around in the heads of many youngsters. As a teacher I have used it to peak students imaginations to produce our own class books about what could happen if dinosaurs came back.

I read this book to my nephews for years when they went through their dinosaur obsession stage. Now my son is four and on the same stage...dreaming about dinosaurs, talking about them day and night. The book captures the fascination that children have with dinosaurs. It's funny and creative and bound to become a classic.

My son loves this book about dinosaurs. It gives a unique perspective on what dinosaurs could help us do if they came back now. The back page lists many different types of dinosaurs with line drawings of them and their names. This miniature sized book makes it great for travel.

We also used this book for our dino unit study. Very cute idea of what life would be like if dinosaurs were still alive.

I love this book for writing. It has silly things the dinosaurs could be used for if they came back to Earth. I read it to my class and then they have to come up with another use for dinosaurs and make a page for a class book.

For a dinosaur-loving kid (and I was one), this book should work nicely. It's got--you guessed it--heaps of dinosaurs. Plus, in this book the dinosaurs are very friendly: they make nice pets and people helpers. They become fully integrated into human society. That, for a dino-kid, is a great fantasy. However the art is quite mediocre, and the book has few of those curiosities that make a great kids' book. Instead, this is a rather unimaginative take on the dinosaurs' return. A must only for the hard-core dino-kid.

We picked up "If the dinosaurs came back" because of its beautiful and clear-cut illustrations. The visual impact is very enjoyable.
However, the book falls short on its contents. "If dinosaurs came back" - yes, what if they did? In this book, their return would be very tame indeed. Dinosaurs could become buses, we learn, dinosaurs could be used as ladders, they could do timberwork in wooded areas, or people could own them like pets and take them for a stroll on a leash. But where is the dinosaur essence here? Where is the rampage, the nutsized brain, the carnivorous jaws, the giantic appetite? If dinosaurs came back, oh what happy mayhem it could be! But in this book the famed old lizards display about as much characteristics as a forgotten chair on a street corner.
Verdict: Too infantile - even for the young set (ages 3 and up). But nice pictures.