Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Animals, Reference - General & Miscellaneous, General & Miscellaneous Science

Don't Know Much about Dinosaurs

Name: Don't Know Much about Dinosaurs
Author: Kenneth C. Davis, Pedro Martin
ISBN: 9780060286194

by Kenneth C. Davis, Pedro Martin

Write a review

Overview

How did some plant-eating dinosaurs "chew" with their stomachs?
Which dinosaurs were the best musicians?
How did T. rex attack its prey?

Dinosaurs were some of the most fascinating animals that ever lived on our planet. Some were huge, and some were tiny; some ate leaves, and some loved to chomp on other dinosaurs!

In Don't Know Much About Dinosaurs, you'll discover dinosaurs that had a thousand teeth, dinosaurs that could run forty miles per hour, and dinosaurs that ate an entire school-bus-sized pile of vegetables in a single day! And you'll learn how paleontologists discovered the most famous dinosaur of all -- the ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.

Kenneth C. Davis brings the great reptiles of the past back to life with his trademark question-and-answer format. Full of cool quotes, fun facts, and detailed artwork by Pedro Martin, the latest addition to the Don't Know Much About® series brings out the paleontologist in everyone.

Questions and answers provide information about dinosaurs, including the different species, what they ate, how they lived, and why they may have become extinct.

About the Author, Kenneth C. Davis, Pedro Martin

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times best-selling author of Don't Know Much About® History, Don't Know Much About® Geography, Don't Know Much About® The Civil War, and Don't Know Much About® The Bible.

People magazine has said that "Reading [Davis] is like returning to the classroom of the best teacher you ever had."

A frequent visitor to classrooms and teacher groups, Davis has appeared often on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, National Public Radio, and many other television and radio shows. He is a contributing editor to USA Weekend, which features his Don't Know Much About® quizzes on a variety of subjects.

Born and educated in Mt. Vernon, New York, he now lives in New York City and Vermont with his wife, Joann, and their two children, Jenny and Colin.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Children's Literature

The author of numerous nonfiction books that rely on the question-and-answer format to catch readers' interests has tackled dinosaurs in a lively and informative way. Organized loosely around topics, such as diets, movement, defense, family life, headgear, and body armor, each double page spread tackles a new and usually facetious question, such as "Which dinosaurs were the best musicians?" The answer is two fact-filled paragraphs about hadrosaurs, or the duck-billed dinosaura, who may have used their crests like musical instruments. Pages introduce record-setters (heaviest, tallest, smallest) and illustrations feature modestly accurate dinosaur renditions with cartoon balloons. Also contributing to the page design are tinted boxes with fascinating facts. To the big question of what happened to the dinosaurs, the author covers the asteroid crash currently believed to be the cause of their demise, the evidence scientists use to arrive at this, plus other competing guesses or suggestions as to what else might have happened. Also presented in the back of the book is a section on how fossils are made, a good overview of the "discovery" of dinosaurs, a how-to (dig, mount, go visit), and a final page which poses everyone's question, could "Jurassic Park" science ever bring back a dinosaur? Great information within a pleasing format, and sure to please readers new to the "Don't Know Much about..." series as well as old hands. 2004, HarperCollins, Ages 6 to 10.
—Susan Hepler, Ph.D.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-This clearly written series entry introduces the different species of dinosaurs, what they ate, how they lived, and why they became extinct. Although Davis covers no new ground here, the information is divided into topical sections and presented in a lively question-and-answer format. To keep readers intrigued, he includes thought-provoking queries, such as "Which dinosaur had a switchblade?" or "If the fastest human raced the fastest dinosaur, who would win?" He also clarifies the confusion about the terms Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus. Pronunciation guides are provided in parentheses next to each dinosaur name. Martin's colorful cartoons provide humorous glimpses at many different species and are in keeping with the lighthearted tone of the book. Without an index or table of contents, this book will be difficult to use for reports. Still, it provides some recent information and will appeal to browsers and dinosaur trivia buffs.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.