(2) K-3 Illustrated by Florencia Gigena. The paleontologist authors take readers step-by-step through the process of unearthing, transporting, and assembling a titanosaur skeleton they discovered. Additional definitions and facts are found at the bottoms or sides of the pages. Gigena's art (which appears to be pencil and watercolor) skillfully conveys the immensity of the fossils. Small photographs of the authors and their team members at work are found throughout.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dieter Braun. This alphabetical listing of every known dinosaur genera lists pronunciations, length, diet, time period, and discovery locale for each. Some also include a graphic size comparison to humans, a stylish digital illustration using muted tones and snazzy patterns (which vary in scientific accuracy), or a paragraph with additional details about the dinosaur's behaviors or physical characteristics.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Let's Investigate with Nate series. Illustrated by Wes Hargis. PBS host/scientist Ball (in cartoon form) and a group of adventurous children travel back in time from a science museum to the Mesozoic era to return a wayward dinosaur to its rightful period. The main text briefly describes conditions in different geologic periods while dialogue bubbles convey the slight fictional frame story; one student's journal pages provide additional facts. A fossil-dig activity is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Smithsonian Little Explorer: Little Paleontologist series. Focusing on animals from different prehistoric periods, these books describe what scientists infer about the creatures' physical features, behavioral traits, and habitats. Helpful comparisons to coexisting species, including predators, underscore their unique characteristics. Illustrations include awkward computer-generated images of dinosaurs on photographic backgrounds as well as diagrams and pictures of fossils. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Smithsonian Little Explorer: Little Paleontologist titles: American Mastodon and Brachiosaurus.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Smithsonian Little Explorer: Little Paleontologist series. Focusing on animals from different prehistoric periods, these books describe what scientists infer about the creatures' physical features, behavioral traits, and habitats. Helpful comparisons to coexisting species, including predators, underscore their unique characteristics. Illustrations include awkward computer-generated images of dinosaurs on photographic backgrounds as well as diagrams and pictures of fossils. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Smithsonian Little Explorer: Little Paleontologist titles: American Mastodon and Brachiosaurus.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) K-3 In this updated edition, Gibbons describes seven dinosaur groups (prosauropods, theropods, sauropods, stegosaurs, ankylosaurs, ceratopsians, and ornithopods), pointing out common features, habits, and other interesting facts. Her signature illustrations, amiably sketchlike yet accurate, portray mainly non-scary-looking dinosaurs as well as the paleontologists who study their fossil remains. Useful phonetic pronunciations accompany the dinosaur names.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) 4-6 Earth Before Us series. Ronnie (Dinosaur Empire!) is ready for more time-travel education with sitter Miss Lernin. After a trip to the aquarium, they travel to the Paleozoic Era to learn about life before dinosaurs. Drawings and diagrams help Ronnie understand evolution through the six periods they visit. Readers will be drawn to the graphic-novel format; they'll enjoy the story and learn a lot of science, too. Glos.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Dinosaur Detectives series. This series presents extremely minimal but well-organized content on dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, mainly lesser-known species. Each slight field guide–like entry features a scientific name with pronunciation guidance, a few facts in simple sentences, and a labeled illustration of what the animal may have looked like; additional boxes show where fossil remains were found and a to-scale comparison to humans. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Dinosaur Detectives titles: Archaeopteryx and Other Flying Reptiles, Herrerasaurus and Other Triassic Dinosaurs, Moschops and Other Ancient Reptiles, Placodus and Other Swimming Reptiles, Stegosaurus and Other Jurassic Dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Dinosaurs.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) K-3 Illustrated by T. S. Spookytooth. In this amusing and informative science picture book, children visiting a natural history museum compare human and dinosaur skeletons: the similarities, then the unique structures that identify species such as stegosaurus (back plates) and diplodocus (many vertebrae). The children--humorously illustrated with dino features--imagine what it would be like to fly, stomp, and chomp like a dinosaur. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) 4-6 Welcome to the Museum series. Illustrated by Chris Wormell. This oversize volume begins with explanations of classification and the age of the dinosaurs, then presents an imagined museum tour through six "galleries," each featuring a clade or group. Wormell's digital engravings capture textures beautifully--including the scales, skins, and feathers of dinosaurs and the lush foliage of their habitats--and are accompanied by detailed field guide–like notes on each feature or species. Ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Alison Carver. Poetic text describes an Ice Age beluga whale's life with her pod and her (somewhat jarring) death; Charlotte's fossilized bones are discovered 11,500 years later in 1849 Vermont. How the fossils helped scientists understand ways the land had changed makes for interesting reading, but concluding messages from the bones ("'Time goes by fast,' they say") is a melodramatic touch. Extensive notes provide additional information. Reading list. Glos.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) 4-6 After brief descriptions of classification, diets, and the climates of the Mesozoic, fifty dinosaurs are presented on oversize double-page spreads. The length, weight, time period, and diet for each is listed, along with a conversational paragraph or two that expands on these facts. Pretty watercolor-looking images of the dinosaurs, often with birdlike, expressive (sometimes cartoonishly so) eyes, illustrate the information.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) 4-6 Facts about dinosaurs are presented in National Geographic's energetic, kid-friendly style, with plenty of graphics and sidebars. Each chapter takes a superlative ("Biggest," "Deadliest," etc.) and runs with it, using subheadings such as "Species Smackdown" to present information in playful and entertaining ways. More of a browsing book than a reference resource, but budding paleontologists will find this hard to put down. Ind.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) K-3 Xtreme Dinosaurs series. This easy-to-read series groups dinosaur and ancient reptile species by prominent characteristics and describes the "Xtremes" in physical structure and function each possesses. Fossil explains the work of paleontologists. The illustrations feature dramatic close-ups and action poses of ferocious-looking dinosaurs and the fossil remains of their impressive teeth, jaws, beaks, and plates. Layered images and superimposed type contribute to a cluttered design. Glos., ind. Review covers these Xtreme Dinosaurs titles: Armored Reptiles, Carnivores, Flying Reptiles, Fossil Hunters, Herbivores, and Sea Reptiles.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Xtreme Dinosaurs series. This easy-to-read series groups dinosaur and ancient reptile species by prominent characteristics and describes the "Xtremes" in physical structure and function each possesses. Fossil explains the work of paleontologists. The illustrations feature dramatic close-ups and action poses of ferocious-looking dinosaurs and the fossil remains of their impressive teeth, jaws, beaks, and plates. Layered images and superimposed type contribute to a cluttered design. Glos., ind. Review covers these Xtreme Dinosaurs titles: Armored Reptiles, Carnivores, Flying Reptiles, Fossil Hunters, Herbivores, and Sea Reptiles.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford