Temperley, Howard – In the Days of Dinosaurs, A Rhyming Romp Through Dino History. Illustrations by Michael Kline

In the Days of Dinosaurs is a meaty book of 64 pages. Each page features a different dinosaur including pronunciation guide, information in rhyme, and a cartoonish drawing. A nonfiction rhyming book is rather unusual, but Temperley does an admirable job of portraying scads of information in verse. However, I did find the rhyming lines distracted from my understanding of the information. A child would read this book more for the entertainment value than for research. The end of the book has a helpful two-page spread the dinosaur timeline.

The illustrations push the book more toward the entertainment type. It has dinosaurs in a bed with a blanket and headboard, wearing a bib, and reading the sports page. The inclusion of humans interacting with dinosaurs may lead to more confusion for children interested in archaeology. Personally, I would’ve preferred realistic illustrations.

The author certainly gets across the magnificence, power, and unique qualities of dinosaurs. Because of illustrations, I would not use this book as a child’s first introduction to dinosaurs but it would be a lot of fun for kids who are familiar with these magnificent beasts and understands what they were really like.

Recommended with limitations.