Customer Reviews

Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar!

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"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.

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.