Dinosaurs Big and Small (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) [Hardcover]

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Author), Lucia Washburn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1

Everybody knows, some dinosaurs were BIG!

How big?

Seismosourus was longer than four school buses parked end to end. Brachiosaurus weighed as much as sixteen elephants.

But not all dinosaurs were big. Coelophysis probably didn't weigh any more than you. Compsognathus was so small, you could have carried one in your arms. And all dinosaurs -- even the ones who grew up to be gigantic -- began life as tiny babies.

Find out just how big and just how small dinosaurs were.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Discussing the wide variety of sizes in the dinosaur lexicon, Zoehfeld's simple text presents kids, school buses, and elephants as yardsticks for the measurement of a number of weighty sauropods and lesser lights, from the massive Argentinosaurus to the cat-sized Compsognathus. Washburn's eye-catching illustrations, in glowing rusts and purples, blues and greens, march step-by-step with the text. Included is a double-page lineup of all the mentioned saurians, with a brief note on each one that gives its scientific name, pronunciation, length, and weight. Brightly colored, informative, and on a cherished topic, the book is certain to gather no shelf-sitter dust.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS.-Gr. 1. This attractive book from the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series discusses the sizes of various dinosaurs. Since estimates of height and weight are not sufficient to help children understand the actual sizes of various species, both the text and the illustrations compare the prehistoric animals to more recognizable measures: a standard-size kid (4 feet tall, 75 pounds), the length of a school bus (30 feet), the weight of an elephant (5 tons). Many books discuss the largest meat-eating dinosaur, Giganotosaurus, but this one one explains that it weighed "less than 2 elephant units" and "had a mouth full of sharp teeth the size of bananas." Just as vivid as that verbal image is Washburn's artwork, apparently done in pastels, which creates scenes that are sometimes naturalistic, sometimes fantastic. The colorful, softly shaded illustrations might show sauropods strolling past a line of parked school buses or a single Brachiosaurus stretching his neck to the height of a pyramid of neatly balanced elephants. Well focused and very appealing. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (May 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060279354
• ISBN-13: 978-0060279356
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,009,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including DINOSAUR TRACKS, "a great choice for even the most discriminating dinophiles" (School Library Journal); DID DINOSAURS HAVE FEATHERS?, a Children's Book of the Month Club selection, described as "fascinating" by Kirkus Reviews; and DINOSAURS BIG AND SMALL, a 2003 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award winner.

When she's not reading, researching, writing, or editing, Kathleen loves to spend her free time exploring, doing fieldwork, and preparing fossils for her local natural history museums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great dino book!, April 17, 2009

By 

jev "mom of 2" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dinosaurs Big and Small (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) (Hardcover)

Had to write in, as out of the large collection of dinosaur books my son has, this is one of his favorites. We caved and bought it after he checked it out from the library 3 times. (:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book for Children interested in Dinosaurs, February 25, 2008

By 

Grandma Ga-Ga "Evie" (Columbus,, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dinosaurs Big and Small (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1) (Paperback)

A nice book with good illustrations for a beginnng reader. My great-nephew liked it, and he is hard to please. This is for primary grades. Kids will learn about the sizes of dinosaurs in relation to themselves and other objects. Nice story with good vocabulary.