Synopsis
Lions and tigers and bears. . . . Stand back for a beast of a pop-up!
Within these dynamic pages lurk fearsome saber-toothed cats, bears taller than basketball hoops, and everyone’s favorite Ice Age giant — the woolly mammoth. Prehistoric Yeti-like mammals, now-extinct birds, and giant flying lizards all come alive in a showcase featuring more than thirty-five astonishing pop-ups. In this third and final volume of the best-selling Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, 3-D masters Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart tackle the titans of the ancient world, awing us with a humbling close-up look at some startling mega-beasts that preceded us on planet Earth.
Joy FleishhackerCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal
Gr 1-5
This volume, along with Dinosaurs (2005) and Sharks and Other Sea Monsters (2006, both Candlewick), completes the authors' superlative pop-up series on prehistoric animals. Here, six spectacular spreads spotlight the incredible, often colossal, creatures that roamed the planet millions of years ago. Beginning with "Sky Lizards" (pterosaurs) and other winged wonders, the book progresses logically, describing therapsids (reptiles with mammalian characteristics), briefly tracing the rise of mammals, and then introducing intriguing examples of various species of this class-both predators and prey. The final spread highlights denizens of the Ice Age and hints at things to come, making mention of primitive human hunters. The tone remains pleasingly chatty throughout, and clever subtitles grab youngsters' attention. Sabuda and Reinhart continue to create innovative, artistic, and effective pop-up designs: an enormous pterosaur spreads its wings wide, a rhinoceroslike giant gallops across the landscape, and a gargantuan woolly mammoth rears its head at readers. Smaller, booklike foldouts are also packed with text and pop-up fireworks (in one example, four pictures of horse ancestors quickly flip by to show the animal's evolution). Although the information is cursory, the book covers a wide-ranging and fascinating spectrum of animals and may encourage further investigation. A delectable, though not very durable, browser's delight.