Bite of the Albertosaurus

July 1, 2014

Gr 1-5-Kooky paleontologist Indino Jones is once again a guide through the land of dinosaurs in this second installment of the fact-filled series. In comic strip-type panels, the stories are told with bright, engaging art, and clear, concise text. Geared toward young readers, each vignette shares details on specific species. From the popular T. rex and Velociraptor to the lesser known but equally interesting Baryonyx and Maiasaura, the dinosaurs featured will delight even the most rabid dinosaur fans. This volume also does a good job of engaging readers with questions they've mostly likely wondered about themselves. How do the jaws of a T. rex measure up to the jaws of animals kids would recognize today, such as a shark or a lion? Back matter includes a listing of each species with its size, weight, and diet, as well as the meaning of its name and where its fossils can be found on the globe. A fresh look at a well covered topic.-John Trischitti, Midland County Public Libraries, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
Grades 1-3 Plumeri and Bloz' silly first volume, Dinosaurs #1 (2013), introduced kids to less-well-known dinosaurs in an appealing format, and they present even more facts about prehistoric creatures in this second installment. This time around, the plethora of facts include identifying dinosaurs by the shape of their feet and how dinosaurs get their odd names, such as Bienosaurus crichtoni, named for Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton, and Gasosaurus, which was discovered during a search for gasoline. (Gasosaurus is also the perfect vehicle for a fart joke, of course.) For the sheer number of dinosaur names dropped, Plumeri and Bloz' series is impressive, but they deserve extra kudos for peppering the facts with jokey, sometimes crass visual humor, ensuring that the science goes down easy. The cartoon dinosaurs and paleontologists have the loopy quality of an Asterix comic. The dinosaurs in this volume are far and away more obscure than those in the first, but that should only serve to pique the interest of young fans of weird and wonderful creatures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)