From Publishers Weekly
Dennis Nolan weaves real-life dino facts into Shadow of the Dinosaurs, a fictional account of a family camping trip turned prehistoric adventure. In this follow-up to Dinosaur Dreams, the titular Dachshund digs up an unusual bone. As his owner sleeps, Shadow is swept up into a world transformed. Throughout, Nolan names the dinosaurs the dog encounters while realistic illustrations depict their wanderings. Opening pages picture the prehistoric creatures' silhouettes labeled with their name, pronunciation and length.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-Shadow is an endearing little dachshund who finds a dinosaur bone while camping out with Jesse and his family. When night falls, the bone glows blue and the dog is transported back into prehistoric times. She gets caught in an imminent battle between sauropods and theropods, and only escapes by burying the magic bone. When she returns to modern times, the boy wakes and tells the dog his dream, which matches her magical adventure. Nolan's watercolors are the main point of interest here. On one page, thick trees morph into sharp-toed dinosaur feet and later, boulders change into toothy theropods. The scenes showing the plucky black-and-orange pup surrounded by the huge dinosaurs are amusing, and two wordless spreads are vivid and dramatic. The story itself, however, is generally weak. Beyond the illustrations, there is nothing involving about the likely confrontation. Shadow's escape back to her own time is anticlimactic, and the tie in to the boy's dream is undeveloped. Carol Carrick's What Happened to Patrick's Dinosaurs (Clarion, 1986) and Paul Fleischman's Time Train (HarperTropy, 1994) have more inventive stories, but there's enough action here to engage young fans, who will especially enjoy the visuals.
Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
