Dennis Schatz

Schatz’ History Uncovered: Dinosaurs is a very brief overview of dinosaurs over the world. Each page is beautifully detailed, with short facts about dinos and geography. Each dinosaur mentioned has a pronunciation with it. The first part of the book deals with the various time periods, and with landmasses. Later sections look at flying and underwater critters, extinction causes, and how fossils are located and processed. My cubs and I read this together, and quite enjoyed it. My only qualm is how short the book is, with each section barely brushing the surface of information available. A perfect gift for the aspiring paleontologist in your life.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.… (meer)

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Take a walk on the wild side with the Tyrant King!

Through pictures, beautiful illustrations and, in the case of the hardcopy, through a diecast model embedded in the pages, Inside Out: T-Rex explores one of the most popular and well-known dinosaurs. Layer by layer, body systems are explored. Paired with each segment are tons of interesting tidbits of info, though the author is straight-up about the fact that not much is truly known about this 'king’ of the dinosaurs.

Scientists speculate based on bone structure that T-Rex could not run fast, only about 18 miles an hour, and was likely a opportunistic scavenger. Others believe they didn't need speed for hunting the gigantic herbivores of the time, but that they were pack-hunters. Bones also suggest T-Rex was warm-blooded. I had no idea the bones of cold-blooded animals resemble tree rings because growth is slower during the colder months! Because dinosaurs no longer exist, and we cannot study them directly, scientists use inference based on similarities with birds, and creatures like crocodiles, who ate a comparable diet, as evidenced by tooth shape.

My cubs and I really enjoyed reading this book. The language is meant for older readers, but the younger ones enjoyed the pictures, and all of them had lots of questions, prompting learning discussions. Overall, a fascinating look at T-Rex, and the perfect book for any dino-loving kid!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.… (meer)