Pterosaurs: Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12) [Hardcover]

Caroline Arnold (Author), Laurie Caple (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12

One hundred million years ago, the skies were filled with enormous flying reptiles. With wings spans up to nearly forty feet, pterosaurs were the dominant life form on earth. The relationship of these giants of the air to dinosaurs and to other reptiles, their varied appearance and lifestyles, their evolution and extinction, the fossil discoveries that scientists are continually making throughout the world—all are depicted in this beautifully illustrated, accessible book for young scientists and their parents and teachers.
Once again, acclaimed science author Caroline Arnold and meticulous watercolorist Laurie Caple have teamed up to create an eye-opening look at an amazing group of prehistoric animals and what the world was like when these incredible creatures ruled the skies of earth. Index.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. After tackling megalodon, feathered dinos, and woolly mammoths in three previous books, Arnold and Caple add another extinct creature to their repertoire. This solid overview of "the only reptiles ever capable of powered flight" covers pterosaurs' ancestry, their peculiar physiology, theories about their behavior, and major fossil discoveries, frequently making abstract facts concrete through vivid comparisons: "If your arms were built like the wings of a pterosaur, your little finger would be more than 3 feet (1 meter) long!" Descriptions of about 20 of the more than 100 different pterosaur species known today round out the text. Caple's neatly labeled watercolors emphasize clarity over drama, but her subjects' exotic physical oddities (hairy, batlike bodies; toucan-bright beaks; bulbous, gaudily colored crests) will draw kids into the diorama-like tableaus. A concluding list of museums that house pterosaur fossils will keep field-trip planners and families of dino-mad youngsters busy for years to come; source notes and titles for further reading would have made a solid package even better. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Arnold describes distinctive features and probable habits for nearly two dozen specifically named species...will please dino-fans at any level" Kirkus Reviews

"solid overview...subjects' exotic physical oddities will draw kids into the diorama-like tableaus." BOOKLIST Booklist, ALA

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618313540
• ISBN-13: 978-0618313549
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,539,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caroline Arnold is the author of more than 100 books for children. She writes both fiction and nonfiction and recently has illustrated some of her books with striking cut paper art. To see prints and cards of her illustrations, go to www.etsy.com/shop/CarolineArnoldArt. Recent nonfiction titles include A Polar Bear's World, A Bald Eagle's World, Global Warming and the Dinosaurs, A Panda's World, Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age, Super Swimmers, and Easter Island. Her recent fiction books include Wiggle and Waggle, a collection of five stories for beginning readers, and The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale.
Her books have received awards from the American Library Association, the National Science Teachers Association, P.E.N., and SCBWI. Recently she received the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for her body of work, the Leo Politi Award from California Readers, and from the Children's Literature Council of Southern California, the Best Written and Illustrated Suite of Nonfiction for children.
Caroline's interest in animals and the out-of-doors began when she was a child growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After majoring in art and literature at Grinnell College in Iowa, she received her M.A. in art from the University of Iowa. Some of her new books are illustrated with her own art. Caroline lives in Los Angeles and teaches part-time in the Writer's Program at UCLA Extension.