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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Let's travel back in time to meet some dinosaurs, and some not dinosaurs. Find out how things evolved, how the world changed, and much more.
I just adore dinosaurs (though I must say I much prefer the creatures as they were when I was a kid, aka, big, scary, scaly and not hairy/feathery, cute, tiny, etc. (like the velociraptor for instance). It just totally destroys dinosaurs for me. I know that with each discovery I should be happy, but in fact I am getting less and less interested in dinosaurs. :( ), so I just had to get this book.
Back when it was first announced I thought it would be a picture book, but later it was said it was going to be a graphic novel. Which made everything even better. Even with feathery dinosaurs, I just wanted to read this book.
A little girl (I also wonder who the hell worries about college at that age + thinking she is not going to get into it because of one zero, or is it something American?) fails her test. While walking back home she passes the house of the (in)famous Miss Lernin. The lady hears about the test, and being the dinosaur/and no-so-dinosaur expert, she invites the girl with her to a journey. And thus begins their adventure. They are of course protected (well for most) by Science Magic (which had me in stitches as it just sounds so hilarious).
I really loved both the girl and the lady. I am all with the girl on the wasp killing by the way. I would have done the same if I could. Brrr, wasps. I don't care that they may be useful, they are generally an aggressive rotten bunch. Plus I just loved how the girl tried to smuggle all sorts of creatures with her (Sylvvviiiaaaa!). The woman sure was enthusiastic and I loved that. Those people are the best teachers.
Extra points go to providing the pronunciations of the names. Sure, it was a bit distracting at times, but I thought it was a nice touch. This way people know how to pronounce the names.
The Cool Animals From Other Times part was also a fun addition.
The art was fabulous, but then again it is Abby Howard and I just adore her artwork (another reason why I bought this book). While, again, I am not a fan of new dinosaurs (poor T-rex, poor velociraptor, poor other creatures), I still liked how Abby drew them. Plus the expressions on both the girl and the lady's faces were often priceless and had me laughing (and cheering because of their enthusiasm).
I had a laugh at the ending: "Never fear, when next you need to unravel the mysteries of the past, I'll be here. Except on Saturday afternoons, that's when I have book club." :P
All in all, I hope that there will be more graphic novels by Abby Howard, because I want more!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I just adore dinosaurs (though I must say I much prefer the creatures as they were when I was a kid, aka, big, scary, scaly and not hairy/feathery, cute, tiny, etc. (like the velociraptor for instance). It just totally destroys dinosaurs for me. I know that with each discovery I should be happy, but in fact I am getting less and less interested in dinosaurs. :( ), so I just had to get this book.
Back when it was first announced I thought it would be a picture book, but later it was said it was going to be a graphic novel. Which made everything even better. Even with feathery dinosaurs, I just wanted to read this book.
A little girl (I also wonder who the hell worries about college at that age + thinking she is not going to get into it because of one zero, or is it something American?) fails her test. While walking back home she passes the house of the (in)famous Miss Lernin. The lady hears about the test, and being the dinosaur/and no-so-dinosaur expert, she invites the girl with her to a journey. And thus begins their adventure. They are of course protected (well for most) by Science Magic (which had me in stitches as it just sounds so hilarious).
I really loved both the girl and the lady. I am all with the girl on the wasp killing by the way. I would have done the same if I could. Brrr, wasps. I don't care that they may be useful, they are generally an aggressive rotten bunch. Plus I just loved how the girl tried to smuggle all sorts of creatures with her (Sylvvviiiaaaa!). The woman sure was enthusiastic and I loved that. Those people are the best teachers.
Extra points go to providing the pronunciations of the names. Sure, it was a bit distracting at times, but I thought it was a nice touch. This way people know how to pronounce the names.
The Cool Animals From Other Times part was also a fun addition.
The art was fabulous, but then again it is Abby Howard and I just adore her artwork (another reason why I bought this book). While, again, I am not a fan of new dinosaurs (poor T-rex, poor velociraptor, poor other creatures), I still liked how Abby drew them. Plus the expressions on both the girl and the lady's faces were often priceless and had me laughing (and cheering because of their enthusiasm).
I had a laugh at the ending: "Never fear, when next you need to unravel the mysteries of the past, I'll be here. Except on Saturday afternoons, that's when I have book club." :P
All in all, I hope that there will be more graphic novels by Abby Howard, because I want more!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
mnstucki's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely only for the dinosaur obsessed. This book is super fact heavy, so much so that I found my eyes glossing over at points because dinosaurs are not really my topic of choice, and you have to be really INTO dinosaurs to want the level of detail this book provides. That being said, if you get this in the hands of the right reader, they will EAT IT UP. The scientific explanations are thorough, the drawings are amazingly detailed and beautiful, and every animal is labeled with their scientific name and a phonetic pronunciation guide.
mayhplumb's review against another edition
5.0
This book is GREAT! Really fun illustrations, with a great diversity of plants and animals represented. I think it would be great to just look through with a younger child, and it has engaging topics for older learners.
The format is well developed for getting a couple of key concepts (e.g. convergent evolution) by bringing them up in different contexts.
The format is well developed for getting a couple of key concepts (e.g. convergent evolution) by bringing them up in different contexts.
krissyranae's review against another edition
4.0
This book is everything that young, curious me would have loved to know. I wish I'd had it when I was a questioning kiddo, so I'm very glad it exists for the current/future kid like me who wanted to learn, and got a live Ken Ham lecture instead.
lipsandpalms's review against another edition
5.0
Great entertaining information. I can't wait for the sequel
droar's review against another edition
5.0
The black and white copy I received was less exciting than the few color pages I've seen of this book, but still super exciting. It's manages to be both informative and quite funny. What I like best about this work is that it closes the gap in dinosaur nonfiction from the basic color photo style books with minimal information and the overly dense books with fewer pictures. It has a lot of specialized terminology but the dialogue does a good job of reinforcing the terms several times. The graphic format feels very approachable for readers who are into dinosaurs, but not so into them they want to read the more informative books without as many pictures. Also It's hilarious! I'm stoked to put this book in some upper elementary and middle school hands in August.
grid's review against another edition
4.0
Much more education focused than I’d expected, this is almost a textbook. Very much in the tradition of the magic school bus series.
vegan5533's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
altruest's review against another edition
5.0
Abby Howard is a wonderful human being and this book exhibits the absolute joy she feels when talking about dinosaurs. It's simply delightful.
quiettalker's review against another edition
4.0
That was really cool, though a but dense. Abby Howard is the best.