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.
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 PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
