The Smartest Dinosaurs

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Attractive, realistic illustrations keep pace with a simple text that investigates dinosaur intelligence. After a discussion of brain/body-size ratios, Lessem goes on to describe the importance of fossil finds in determining intelligence possibilities, leading to brief descriptions of seven dinosaurs that scientists feel may have been brighter than their contemporaries. He extrapolates behaviors (such as pack-hunting by Deinonychus) that are considered to go hand in hand with advanced brainpower, and closes with a look at birds, possible heirs to these reptiles. Much simpler than Lessem's own Troodon, the Smartest Dinosaur (Carolrhoda, 1996) or Lowell Dingus and Mark A. Norell's Searching for Velociraptor (HarperCollins, 1996), this is a clear look at a facet of dinosaur makeup not often touched on in other works.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.