Dinosaur Bones

Title: Dinosaur Bones

Author: Bob Barner

Illustrator: Bob Barner

Picture book for ages (approximately) 5 and up

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book describes many facts about dinosaurs and their bones.

Opinion:

I picked this book because I am a science specialization and dinosaurs are something most elementary children are interested in. This book is really good for younger children as it talks about the most simple and basic elements of dinosaurs and their fossils. It has almost two different books going on within it, which I’m not sure whether I like or not. There is almost a story about dinosaurs that is written in different large font at the top of each page and another small, more in depth blurb about dinosaurs at the bottom. Most times these two texts were related, but it sometimes got confusing reading them both at the same time.  The only thing I really didn’t like about this book is that it gave a specific reason dinosaurs went extinct. As far as I know there is no one agreed upon reason, and the reason listed is not the most popular theory. I don’t think we should ever show kids that science is definitive and certain. Almost nothing in science is proven, it’s all a bunch of theories being worked out, so I really didn’t like that this gave an “answer” when there really is none. Other than that I found this book very useful with charts and diagrams in the back as well.

The illustrations in this book are cute and fun. They are done in mosaic form, looking like a bunch of torn paper, but are quite accurate as far as proportions go. They are colorful and attractive to the eye, but again I feel they are gauged towards younger students.

I would use this book in my classroom, but if I read it aloud I would probably skip that first blurb about how they went extinct. This would be a nice book to have in a dinosaur unit as well since it has a lot of basic information.