Customer Reviews

How Dinosaurs Took Flight: The Fossils, the Science, What We Think We Know, and Mysteries Yet Unsolved (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (Awards))

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This slim (64 pages) volume carries a hefty price tag, but at this point it's worth it, because there isn't a lot on the market covering the dinosaurs-with-feathers subject (so far as I know). Dr. Xu Xing, who wrote the foreward, is a notable character in the unfolding drama of feathered fossils being found in China.

I consider this book a bit radical in that it runs with the theory of dinosaurs being birds (or was it vice versa?), calling them all dinosaurs: nonavian dinosaurs for the "dinosaurs" and avian dinosaurs for the "birds." It is written in a fairly simple and straightforward manner; I think it is a YA title although I mostly bought it for myself (as a parent having just taken the kids to see the James Gurney's Dinotopia exhibit and activites at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge MA). I think one might want to read it with a child, so that, for example, a younger reader might not end up being teased for insisting that birds are dinosaurs. The theory is out there, it's current, but it's not completely validated yet. I would like to see more well illustrated books on the subject, but this one is a great start.

This book is filled with great pictures and it is very informative. The author did a wonderful job explaining the differences between avian and nonavian dinosaurs. The hypotheses throughout the book are followed by the evidence that has been found on that topic. It's great reading for aboout 4th grade through adult, and nice for reading with your child also.