I must admit that I have some reservations concerning this work. These concerns basically deal with technical flaws in this work. These have been pointed out in the School Library Journal review and they are valid up to a certain point. Yes, the author is not all that specific as to time lines in this work and the book does have one page which shows dinosaurs becoming extinct presumably due to weather change, i.e. a big snow storm. Some of the labels on one of the animals shown are a bit difficult to interpret and blah, blah, blah. Oh, good grief...I forgot...I am an adult...actually an old man...this work was written for kids...never mind!
Now that being said, it must be remembered that this is a book for kids...very young kids, ages 4 to 8. This is not; I repeat NOT a college level study of prehistoric times and the flora and fauna of those past years. Now that being said, I know for a fact that kids absolutely love this book and it is one of the most beat up and heavily used books in both the school and public library. I have observed many children reading this work and talked to them about it. It may amaze you when I tell you this, but I have yet to have one of the little guys or girls get bent out of frame due to the fact that the author does not mention the Paleocene, Eocene or Pleistocene era. The author has offered a very well illustrated time line using years rather than scientific terms. While this may be inconsistent with her use of scientific terms and names for the animals, which the author does use...trust me, the kids could care less. This is a case of adults getting their noses out of joint because they have forgotten what it was like being a 5 or 6 year old kid. If a parent or teacher wants the kid to learn the scientific term for each prehistoric age, then for goodness sakes they need to get off their behinds, do a bit of research, and supplement this work with whatever they come up with. This is what parents and teachers are for!
No, these kids enjoy the wonderful pictures of these long extinct creatures and they get an absolute kick out of pronouncing the names of these creatures as they read about them. The delight in the child's eye as they read and pronounce Megistotherium (meg-is-toe-THEE-re-um) or Andrewsarchus (an-drew-SAR-kus) is a wonderful thing to see.
This book can keep a wee one occupied for literally hours and will receive many rereads. I like this work and wish there were more like it around. The author has skillfully blended a great natural history lesson in with a wonderful history lesson and on top of all that, has introduced the young reader to some very difficult words and done it in a fashion that the child will receive almost instant results from their work. This is a good thing.
I do highly recommend this work.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
- Accelerated Reading level : none found
- Hardcover: 16 pages
- Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (September 1988)
- ISBN-10: 0823407071
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