Let's Go Dinosaur Tracking

Kindergarten-Grade 4-- Footprints seem to be this season's discovery in children's dinosaur books, as noted by the recently published On the Tracks of Dinosaurs (Watts, 1991) by James Farlow. Schlein's contribution makes available some of this same information in a format that's more appealing to younger children. She uses a fictional premise of an elderly paleontologist, who zips around the world with his grandchildren in order to examine discoveries of dinosaur footprints. The factual text and playful illustrations interact well with one another, moving readers through the book without bogging them down in details. A glossary helps decode multisyllable names, and a beach experiment will help readers puzzle out how scientists determine a dinosaur's size by the prints it leaves behind. An enjoyable book that covers the basics of prehistoric tracking well. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Conventional wisdom suggests that this teaming of a science writer with a picture book illustrator should have worked (witness the success of Cole and Degen's Magic School Bus series), but this fact and fiction mix just doesn't jell. One problem may be the broken narrative line: it's difficult to follow a story that seems merely wrapped around a collection of facts. Additionally, in both text and art the boundaries between imagination and scientific observation blur and often disappear totally. The nameless scientist and the three anonymous, dinosaur-crazy kids move abruptly through time and space in search of fossilized tracks without the aid of any device to facilitate or justify the action. Though there's much information here and some very appealing art, these talented collaborators will certainly disappoint their intended audience. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.