Tag Archives: dinosaurs

That’s No Dino! Or Is It? What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker

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What are the characteristics of dinosaur? That’s No Dino! Or Is It? takes the reader through several ancient creatures and compares their bodies to what scientists believe are true dinosaurs. An Anomalocaris may have lived 508 million years ago, but it didn’t have a backbone. Therefore, it wasn’t a dino. A Pleisiosaurus was old enough and had a backbone. But, it lived in the water and, therefore, was not a dino! The last animal to be described is a velociraptor and it has all the characteristics of a dinosaur and there are ten different characteristics! The author concludes with a list of those characteristics, a glossary, an index and a short list of extra resources.

Illustrations are cartoon-like and the writing is accessible for young readers. This book is a nice introduction to dinosaurs and budding paleontologists will take note of what makes a dino a dino after reading this book.

Titanosaur: Discovering the World’s Largest Dinosaur

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Nothing gets a budding paleontologist more excited than a book about a newly discovered dinosaur. But, this book will turn many young readers into future paleontologists when they see the photos of the dig and the resulting life-size model.

Dr. Jose Carballido and Dr. Diego Pol followed the lead given by a local gaucho, who discovered the bone on his ranch in Patagonia while looking for sheep. When they arrived, they found a dinosaur femur (upper leg bone) that was nearly eight feet long, the largest on record! This amazing fossil was the first of over 180 bones that the paleontologists and their team uncovered and took back to the museum. Here, they cleaned them and made fiberglass replicas of every bone in order to build a model of this new species of Titanosaur.

The book is laid out in two corresponding parts. The main part details the discovery of the fossils and the painstaking work it took to remove them safely, clean them, study them and make the life-size replica. The corresponding part, which is in sidebars or the bottom of the pages, explains unfamiliar words and gives information about titanosaurs and the work of a paleontologist in this case.

Illustrations are well-done and the photographs interspersed throughout help the reader be part of the excavation. The two page spread showing the 122 foot long titanosaur, Patagotitan mayorum, is breathtaking and the final pages with a note and photos from Dr. Carballido and Dr. Pol is very engaging.

This book will be a great addition to a library collection, especially those looking to update their information. Put this book out and you won’t see it on the shelf. It’s that good!

Make a Dinosaur Your Way!

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Kids are encouraged to build a dinosaur and given some suggestions for materials and tools. They are not given exact instructions. Rather, they are given some guidance and lots of freedom to use their imagination. And, while there are some photos for inspiration, they don’t make the reader feel as if the dinosaur models pictured are the only way to create. This open-ended instructional text is a nice addition to the maker movement in your library.

Amazing Origami Dinosaurs

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How can it get any better than dinosaur facts and origami? How about both of them in a single book! We begin with a little introduction to origami – history, paper and typical folds. This book, geared toward the 3rd-6th grade crowd, then gives illustrated directions for six different dinosaurs (and facts) and a prehistoric tree. Most pieces are eight to nine steps and the iguuanodon is a whopping 16 steps. The directions and illustrations are clear, but this book is better suited to the experienced origami aficionado. Beginners might get a bit frustrated. All in all, a nice addition to the library.