Dinosaurs: Exploring Prehistoric Life and Geological Time

The title of Dinosaurs is a bit misleading only because this book covers so much more than dinosaurs and the era in which they lived. After a quick introduction, readers will find a timeline that shows how recent, in the larger scheme of things, is the age of dinosaurs, and how many other important eras there are. There are sections on plate tectonics, understanding fossils, reading rocks, mass extinction events (there were many), and understanding evolution. These lead into sections on the many eons, eras, and periods in the history of the planet. Each section is chock full of information written in accessible, conversational prose that does not shy away from using scientific language. The writer respects the middle-grade readers who will pick this book up and expects them to do what they need to do to read it. Every page is filled with wonderful illustrations that support the vast amount of information being communicated. The illustrations are not terribly realistic but still convey a good deal of information. Young readers are infinitely curious, and they will lose themselves in this wonderful compendium of historical and scientific information. This is the perfect book for young science and history lovers.