April 1, 2007
Gr 5-8-DK has been publishing books about dinosaurs for a peck of years, including such gems as David Lambert's "The Ultimate Dinosaur Book" (1993) and "Dinosaurs" (2006), David Norman and Angela C. Milner's "Dinosaur" (2004), "The Visual Dictionary of Dinosaurs" (1993), and Malam's own "Dinosaur Atlas" (2006). Here, spiffy digital imagery is combined with a terse text to create a visual pathway for readers on the trail of prehistory's star carnivore, "Tyrannosaurus rex". This toothy favorite is shown from hatchling to adult, with details on its lifestyle and hunting techniques extrapolated from current theories and recent fossil finds. Words emphasized in the "stepping stone" captions are defined at the bottom of each page. Information boxes on the facing pages cover such related topics as "Blood Vessels," "Revealing Footprints," and "Cretaceous Plants." Certain subjects, such as the Chicxulub meteor strike, the discovery of "T. rex" Sue, and dinosaur classification, rate spreads of their own. A nifty six-foot-long poster panorama of the Cretaceous sea, sky, and land (which will probably last the lifespan of a mayfly) is included. This series title is a visual recombinant DNA treat that provides digestible information."Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY"
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