Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! [Hardcover]

Bob Barner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2009 | Grade Level: P and up

What are as light as a feather and as old as the dinosaurs? Butterflies! With a lively text and vibrant paper-collage illustrations, award-winning author Bob Barner brings us a wonderful look at the amazing history of butterflies, and how their lives intersected with the dinosaurs millions of years ago. Readers will be fascinated to discover that when they stop to admire a beautiful butterfly, a dinosaur may have once done the same! This gorgeous, rollicking, informative book is sure to become a favorite of budding scientists everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Barner works with pen, ink, watercolor, and a computer. When he's not working on books he likes to present his work to schools and libraries around the world. He lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811856631
• ISBN-13: 978-0811856638
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent choice for any child, October 19, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! (Hardcover)

"Dinosaurs ROAR, Butterflies SOAR!" is a colorful children's picture book that is all about prehistoric dinosaurs and butterflies and other plants and animals that existed up to 248 million years ago. The simple text is embedded in wildly bright, imaginative paper collage and pastel illustrations, which greatly enhance the story. "Dinosaurs ROAR, Butterflies SOAR!" is also full of fascinating facts about the age of dinosaurs. For example, dinosaurs are presented as "accidental farmers," who helped plants grow by walking on the soil, opening it up, and adding droppings that fertilized seeds to grow into new plants. There is also a collage-illustrated time line that shows the era of dinosaurs, 248 million years ago, the time of the first butterflies 130 million years ago, dinosaur extinction due to (perhaps) earth's collision with a large asteroid 65 million years ago, and the more recent appearance of the first whales (45 million years ago), cats (35 million years ago), dogs (25 million years ago), and humans (1.8 million years ago). "Dinosaurs ROAR, Butterflies SOAR!" also carefully describes the interdependence of a multitude of species of flora and fauna in ways a preschooler can grasp. The creative collages cement the knowledge into visible data attractive to small emerging and developing human brains. "Dinosaurs ROAR, Butterflies SOAR!" is an excellent choice for any child.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an impressive book that shows how the dinosaur and the butterfly needed one another to survive!, December 29, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! (Hardcover)

During the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth there were also little creatures who fluttered around. Butterflies pollinated the plants around them and helped many "flowering plants flourish." Plants generated air and food, both critical things for the dinosaurs who were BIG eaters and "accidental farmers." Their heavy footsteps opened up the soil and "their droppings fertilized seeds" that eventually produced more plant life. The more plants that existed the more food there was for "growing numbers of reptiles, big and small."

Butterflies and dinosaurs coexisted for millions of years, but when an asteroid struck the Earth it was the end for the dinosaur population. The asteroid was massive with a width of six miles. There was enough food for the tiny butterfly, but because the dinosaurs needed massive amounts of food, "they soon became EXTINCT." The butterflies continued to live "past saber-toothed cats, woolly mammoths, and the first humans." Of course if you see a little butterfly in your yard pollinating flowers, just think that the same kind most likely shared the company of dinosaurs many millions of years ago!

I was quite impressed with the way the author integrated the life of the dinosaur with that of the butterfly. Few children, or adults for that matter, think about the need of one for the other. I very much liked the set up of this book. The initial statements are geared toward the younger, less confident reader and the second related one yields a more informative scientific explanation of the first. For example, the statement "Butterflies! By spreading pollen from bloom to bloom, butterflies helped flowering plants flourish." This is followed by information that can be read or utilized by the more advanced student, parent or teacher. The artwork is very vibrant and colorful and adds some excitement to the text. In the back of the book is a brief pictorial time line and several additional fun facts.