Dinosaur Tracks

Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2

by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Lucia Washburn (Illustrations)

Read and find out about dinosaur tracks in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book. Kids love dinosaurs, and now they can take the same steps as a T-Rex! Many of these fascinating prehistoric creatures left their tracks or footprints in the ground. Read and find out how these amazing developments all started with a footprint created millions of years ago. This book shows how fossilized dinosaur tracks may be able to teach us more about how these creatures lived than we could ever learn from bones. This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It's a Level 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series Top 10 reasons to love Books in this series support the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

Genres: Picture Books, Prehistory, Dinosaurs, Science, Nonfiction, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including DINOSAUR TRACKS, "a great choice for even the most discriminating dinophiles" (School Library Journal); DID DINOSAURS HAVE FEATHERS?, a Children's Book of the Month Club selection, described as "fascinating" by Kirkus Reviews; and DINOSAURS BIG AND SMALL, a 2003 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award winner.

When she's not reading, researching, writing, or editing, Kathleen loves to spend her free time exploring, doing fieldwork, and preparing fossils for her local natural history museums.

Reviews

[Eliot Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

All about how dinosaur tracks are formed and the vast information that scientists can learn from studying their footprints.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for any dinosaur loving child to further their knowledge on the subject.

[swalterich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The picture book format of this information book pulls in readers with its story of facts and soft-color illustrations, making the subject accessible for the youngest of readers. Dinosaur Tracks gives a thorough explanation of how tracks are formed, as well as how ichnologists interpret these tracks to learn about dinosaurs. The writing is straightforward and scientific in tone without being dry, as a personal tone accompanies the text that draws the reader into the story. Some fascinating gems of information are also included with the scientific explanations, including the example of the discovery of the first dinosaur tracks. These tracks were found previous to the time that dinosaurs themselves were discovered, which led many people at the time to speculate about 'hefty hens.' The book also invites readers to speculate on certain issues, just like a real scientist would. The back of the book includes instructions for making your own fossil footprints. This book is part of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-About-Science series, and with its controlled vocabulary and large clear text, could be a good selection for those dinosaur enthusiasts ready to read on their own.

[Claire Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld writes multiple informative books for children. I read Dinosaur Tracks. In this informative book, Zoehfeld describes how ichnologists find and infer dinosaur tracks. She describes how dinosaur tracks can still be found today, sixty five million years later. She also describes the different types of tracks and how, from just a dinosaur track, ichnologists can potentially infer what kind of dinosaur they were, how fast, and how big they were.
For young readers, they might need help with some vocabulary and comprehension. However, for 3-4th grade and above, this is a great informative book that is easy to read! I'll admit, I even learned more than one new fact from reading this book! The author does a great job of providing tons of information, in an easy, simple, and understandable way.

[Deb Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wonder how dinosaur tracks were formed? In Dinosaur Tracks, you will not only learn how dinosaur tracks are made, but the different types of tracks left by these amazing animals. From plant-eating dinosaurs called ornithopods to the largest dinosaurs called sauropods, Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld describes the size and shape of their tracks. The illustrations, by Lucia Washburn, include realistic drawings of the dinosaurs, the earth layers where tracks are fossilized and numerous tracks of these animals. An added bonus to the book is a section on how to make your own footprints or handprints. The directions are easy to follow, but require an adult’s help. This would make a great classroom project to conclude a unit on dinosaurs or a study of the earth.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe more like 3.5. But it has a good basic explanation of the chemical processes which lead to the preservation of dinosaur tracks, and seems to be reasonably in line with modern thought on low dinosaurs looked and moved. (In my extremely non-expert opinion.)