Dinothesaurus

Bibliography
Florian, Douglas. 2009. DINOTHESAURUS. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN: 9781416979784



Review:

In Dinothesaurs, Florian blends imaginative art work, educational details, and humorous verses to create pleasurable reading experience. Each poem in the collection spotlights a different species of dinosaur and a pronunciation guide. The poems themselves combine humor and interesting facts. “ In “Tyrannosaurus Rex”, T-Rex is described as, “ Some forty feet long. Some fourteen feet tall. Its back limbs were strong. Its front limbs were small.” In “Spinosaurus” readers will delight in Florian's comical lines, “ What kept the Spinosaurus warm/ When it was colder than the norm?/ Spines much like a solar panel. (And long underwear of flannel.?”, as well as Florian’s art that shows the large reptile clad in flannel pajamas. With its lighthearted but educational tone, Florian's Dinothesaurs is sure to appeal to audiences of all ages.

Excerpt:

“Barosasurs”

I'm higher than five elephants.
I'm longer than most whales.
My giant neck is balanced by
My forty-three-foot tail.
A tail that is my weapon.
It swings from side to side.
From nose to tail I'm ninety feet-
Hey kid, ya wanna ride?


Introducing the poem:

Although Dinothesaurs would be more suitable for younger readers, parents and teachers will enjoy reading this as well. Dinothesaurs would be a great choice as a story-time choice. Also, for classrooms, Dinothesarus would be a great starting point in introducing a lesson on dinosaurs and the different geological time periods.