After a brief introduction, the book concentrates on the period from 330 million years ago to 65 million years ago, from the appearance of amniotes through the myriad dinosaur species that thrived in the Mesozoic Era. Zoehfeld is remarkably precise with language, providing outstanding explanations of key concepts. Washburn's illustrations include helpful anatomical details and imagined portrayals of dinosaurs in verdant habitats. Timeline. Glos.

Gr 3-5 This slim, colorful title is all about evolution, but, sadly, it never addresses what the term means and how it works. The brief text tries to cover everything from 3.5 billion-year-old stromatolites to the giants of the Cretaceous period but makes some jumps that might seriously puzzle neophytes to the evolutionary branchings of life. Think of why the large dicynodonts and gorgons of the late Permian ended up as squirrel-sized mammals in the Cretaceous, for example. The colorful illustrations portray the ever-evolving parade of interesting critters (some sure to be unfamiliar to many young readers), and all those with "ID tags" are described in the glossary (which contains no definitions per se). Nicely, one clear combo of text and illustration demonstrates the essential differences between the skulls of a Gorgonops and an Archosaurus , showing how that difference defines dinosaurs appearing higher on the evolutionary tree. Covering the development of tough-shelled eggs and the emergence of huge true sauropods, the interesting text is sure to raise a plethora of questions in readers not up on the evolutionary process. Eye-catching and on the ever-hot topic of dinos, this slender book will certainly attract children's attention, but they will be left asking for more information. Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY