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showell's review against another edition
5.0
In 1853, almost no one knew what a dinosaur looked like. No one had ever mounted a complete dinosaur skeleton, and who could be expected to imagine what these strange creatures would have looked like with muscles, skin, teeth, eyes, tails, and feet all in their proper places from just a heap of bones? This engaging children's book is the story of the Victorian artist who, with the help of renowned scientist Richard Owen, would bring dinosaurs to life for the people around him.
The story connects Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' early love of drawing and sculpting animals as a child with the career he built as an adult of designing, building, and lecturing about dinosaurs. In extremely readable prose, Barbara Kerley describes the process Owen and Hawkins used to decide what the dinosaurs probably looked like, as well as the method Hawkins used to translate those designs into his life-size statues.
Although this is a rather long story for a four-year-old, it is full of interesting anecdotes, such as the New Year's Eve party Waterhouse Hawkins held inside his model Iguanodon, the massive celebration that marked the début of the dinosaur models at the Crystal Palace in London in 1854, and the way Boss Tweed shut down Hawkins' attempt to build similar models to put on display in Central Park in New York. All beautifully illustrated by Brian Selznick, who based many of his illustrations on a rare scrapbook containing photographs and original drawings of the models that may have been created by Waterhouse Hawkins himself.
Perhaps the bit that I liked the most is the fact that the dinosaurs Waterhouse Hawkins created can still be seen today in Crystal Palace Park in Sydenham. Can anyone say road trip?
(Review originally published on my blog--Caterpickles: Scientific and Linguistic Engagement with a 4 Year Old Mind, caterpickles.com)
The story connects Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' early love of drawing and sculpting animals as a child with the career he built as an adult of designing, building, and lecturing about dinosaurs. In extremely readable prose, Barbara Kerley describes the process Owen and Hawkins used to decide what the dinosaurs probably looked like, as well as the method Hawkins used to translate those designs into his life-size statues.
Although this is a rather long story for a four-year-old, it is full of interesting anecdotes, such as the New Year's Eve party Waterhouse Hawkins held inside his model Iguanodon, the massive celebration that marked the début of the dinosaur models at the Crystal Palace in London in 1854, and the way Boss Tweed shut down Hawkins' attempt to build similar models to put on display in Central Park in New York. All beautifully illustrated by Brian Selznick, who based many of his illustrations on a rare scrapbook containing photographs and original drawings of the models that may have been created by Waterhouse Hawkins himself.
Perhaps the bit that I liked the most is the fact that the dinosaurs Waterhouse Hawkins created can still be seen today in Crystal Palace Park in Sydenham. Can anyone say road trip?
(Review originally published on my blog--Caterpickles: Scientific and Linguistic Engagement with a 4 Year Old Mind, caterpickles.com)
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Calling all Jurassic Park fans!! This is definitely the book for you. When theories about dinosaurs were just coming to the forefront of knowledge, Waterhouse Hawkins devoted his life to imagining and rendering what dinosaurs might have looked like by constructing skeletons, molds, and paintings of the fantastic creatures. This book was so informative and drawn so beautifully. It's truly something to behold. And the cover--wow, the cover, I LOVE IT. It's so spooky and magical, and certainly sets the tone for the book. It's just. I love it. It's great.
Review cross-listed here!
Review cross-listed here!
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
I had never heard of these dinosaurs, or of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins until I read this, but I am glad to have done so, and I hope someday to see the restored/recreated London dinosaurs!
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
Yes, those are [a: Brian Selznick|38120|Brian Selznick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201028714p2/38120.jpg] illustrations.
And I love the way the book is laid out - flipping through it, I love the variety of page layouts, whitespace, and giant dinosaur pix.
But reading it straight through, some of the magic disappears.
I read it looking for books to promote to elementary-aged kids this month, and I don't think this will make the cut.
There's something of seeing behind the curtain about it. I mean, yeah, this guy had a cool task and maybe made a BIG impact on history by bringing dinosaurs to life for the general public.
But if most kids are like I was, I really don't think they'll fully understand the context of that significance.
When I was in college, I did a major project on Abbie Hoffman. I was completely inspired by this guy. He blew me away. I've come to collect all of his books, and consider him one of my heroes. But I got marked down on the project because I was supposed to write about his "significance," and I didn't really get what that meant. It was like he was so significant to me, I couldn't see any further to the wider world.
Tangent, sorry. Suffice it to say, I'm not sure kids will get the ramifications of Waterhouse Hawkins not doing what he did. Besides, I'm not sure I do either, because the whole thing wasn't actually his idea in the first place. So someone else would probably have done what he did if he hadn't been there. Besides maybe the dinner party? Which is one scene, one night, and you get very little detail. I want menus! And guest lists! And reactions! And primary sources!
Yeah, maybe that's my issue here. The real hook isn't explored enough. And everything else is surface level. Maybe there's a reason you haven't heard of this before.
And I love the way the book is laid out - flipping through it, I love the variety of page layouts, whitespace, and giant dinosaur pix.
But reading it straight through, some of the magic disappears.
I read it looking for books to promote to elementary-aged kids this month, and I don't think this will make the cut.
There's something of seeing behind the curtain about it. I mean, yeah, this guy had a cool task and maybe made a BIG impact on history by bringing dinosaurs to life for the general public.
But if most kids are like I was, I really don't think they'll fully understand the context of that significance.
When I was in college, I did a major project on Abbie Hoffman. I was completely inspired by this guy. He blew me away. I've come to collect all of his books, and consider him one of my heroes. But I got marked down on the project because I was supposed to write about his "significance," and I didn't really get what that meant. It was like he was so significant to me, I couldn't see any further to the wider world.
Tangent, sorry. Suffice it to say, I'm not sure kids will get the ramifications of Waterhouse Hawkins not doing what he did. Besides, I'm not sure I do either, because the whole thing wasn't actually his idea in the first place. So someone else would probably have done what he did if he hadn't been there. Besides maybe the dinner party? Which is one scene, one night, and you get very little detail. I want menus! And guest lists! And reactions! And primary sources!
Yeah, maybe that's my issue here. The real hook isn't explored enough. And everything else is surface level. Maybe there's a reason you haven't heard of this before.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. What a great story of a person who I had certainly not heard of but clearly have seen the impact of. I've been to quite a few museum's with dinosaur models and dioramas. And I still have my children's dinosaur book somewhere. But I never heard of Waterhouse Hawkins. This book brings his story to life. It's quite wordy for a picture book. But as a way for a child to see how science can be an inspiration for a life's work it was pretty amazing.
alhawk's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! I love the blend of art and science, as well as history of how we came to find out what the dinosaurs probably looked like- I NEED this book!
readinginthe_pnw's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely LOVE the illustrations in this book, because they really bring the story to life! This is a great story about Waterhouse Hawkins and all of the things he went through when trying to teach the world about dinosaurs.
libraryrobin's review against another edition
4.0
Waterhouse, a talented painter and sculptor of nature, teams up with noted comparative anatomist Richard Owen to extrapolate what dinosaurs looked like by comparing their bones with animals having similar bones. From there, Waterhouse built models and full-sized replicas, amazing and delighting crowds.
Descriptive, engaging text and illustrations, readers are easily drawn into this historical tale and one man's dedication.
Descriptive, engaging text and illustrations, readers are easily drawn into this historical tale and one man's dedication.