Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 1994)

Starred Review It's hard to believe that the flock of pigeons in the park is comprised of dinosaur descendants, but that's the delightful truth. Nolan explores how those little birds evolved from their fearsome d often feathered refathers, through splendid rhyming text that examines both the dinosaurs of old as well as their current incarnations as common birds. He touches on both general animal behavior and specific names of dinosaurs and birds with incredibly helpful pronunciation guides along the way. The poetic form lends itself to some wonderful tongue-twisting pairings o would have thought that you could find a satisfying rhyme for Archaeopteryx? The clever writing is accompanied by truly stunning illustrations; the dinosaurs, so often portrayed in dull earth tones, almost burst off these pages in a glorious array of colors rendered in exquisitely detailed paintings, and their avian descendants are given the same spectacular treatment. If readers crave more information after the jaunty poetry, back matter includes more basic details about each dinosaur and bird (covering a whopping total of 96 genera), along with a brief but beautiful introduction to the concept of evolution in the natural world. Parents may find themselves with both a budding paleontologist and ornithologist by the time this book is put down.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Viewers get ringside seats as dinosaurs march past in an evolutionary parade, giving way to their modern avian representatives.Nolan crafts a rhymed cadence that is itself an achievement—"Ceratosaurus / Allosaurus / Archaeopteryx / Mamenchisaurus / Kentrosaurus / And Caudipteryx"—but pales next to the brightly patterned, hyper-realistically detailed, and, increasingly often, gloriously feathered dinos marching by the dozens in close company across spacious pages. Just over halfway through, a flaming asteroid descending in the background signals a sudden change to an equally magnificent, more-contemporary cast whose feathers likewise "grew, and grew, and grew. / Flamingos, Owls, / Guineafowls, / And the Marabou." The portraits are all full-body, rendered (at least roughly) to scale, and with a low or level angle of view that sets them off to fine effect. Dino names throughout are matched to phonetic spellings, and a visual index at the back offers additional quick facts for every marcher. Following the image of a sinuous tree of life being studied by a racially diverse group of human offspring, a final rank of sprightly sauropod hatchlings fondly supervised by a humongous parent finishes off the parade on a homey note.A prehistoric progress that takes flight in more ways than one. (recommended books and museums) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Viewers get ringside seats as dinosaurs march past in an evolutionary parade, giving way to their modern avian representatives.Nolan crafts a rhymed cadence that is itself an achievement—"Ceratosaurus / Allosaurus / Archaeopteryx / Mamenchisaurus / Kentrosaurus / And Caudipteryx"—but pales next to the brightly patterned, hyper-realistically detailed, and, increasingly often, gloriously feathered dinos marching by the dozens in close company across spacious pages. Just over halfway through, a flaming asteroid descending in the background signals a sudden change to an equally magnificent, more-contemporary cast whose feathers likewise "grew, and grew, and grew. / Flamingos, Owls, / Guineafowls, / And the Marabou." The portraits are all full-body, rendered (at least roughly) to scale, and with a low or level angle of view that sets them off to fine effect. Dino names throughout are matched to phonetic spellings, and a visual index at the back offers additional quick facts for every marcher. Following the image of a sinuous tree of life being studied by a racially diverse group of human offspring, a final rank of sprightly sauropod hatchlings fondly supervised by a humongous parent finishes off the parade on a homey note.A prehistoric progress that takes flight in more ways than one. (recommended books and museums) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

School Library Journal (Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Gr 1-4 -This nonfiction poetry offering will satisfy young dino enthusiasts and draw in others who will appreciate the rhythm and rhyme, as well as Nolan's lovely watercolor illustrations. Even with the phonetic pronunciations included, the many dinosaur names will be tongue twisters for the adults who will be asked to repeatedly read this aloud. The plot is simple: the massive dinosaurs who once roamed Earth have vanished with the few remaining feathered creatures evolving into birds. Rich back matter includes dimensions of the various terrestrial and aerial creatures, translations of their Latin names, geographic locations, and clear cross-references to pages in the book where they are depicted. There's also a double-page spread of the tree of life, visually representing four billion years of evolution. VERDICT Make room on the shelf for this original addition to your dinosaur collection.-Gloria Koster, formerly at West School, New Canaan, CT