The Best Book of Dinosaurs - Softcover

Chris Maynard is an editor and writer for several children's magazines.

Gr 3-5--Two lavishly illustrated introductions. Bugs highlights the major ways in which insects and spiders differ and then briefly describes some outstanding physical or behavioral characteristics of about two dozen arthropods. The life cycles of honeybees, dragonflies, and butterflies are also outlined. The second book briefly discusses the general characteristics of several groups of dinosaurs and mentions some special traits of about two dozen species. Brightly colored acrylic paintings of varying sizes appear on every page of both titles. Although the books are clearly written, the information is oversimplified and some important facts are omitted. For instance, in Bugs, the book notes, "Wasps live in colonies, too"; however, not all species are social insects, some are solitary wasps. In Dinosaurs, several chapters include fictionalized scenes. Descriptions of attacks by meat-eaters on plant-eaters are sensationalized. More thorough introductions to these subjects are widely available, such as Robert Snedden's What Is an Insect? (Sierra Club, 1993) and Jennifer Dewey's Spiders Near and Far (Dutton, 1993; o.p.); both include excellent illustrations. Miriam Schlien's Discovering Dinosaur Babies (S & S, 1991) and Steve Parker's Did Dinosaurs Lay Eggs? (Benchmark, 1997) offer lucid explanations of how recent discoveries have effected our understanding of what dinosaurs looked liked and how they behaved.

Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library

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