Dinosaur bones

by Bob Barner

The creator of Dem Bones digs up another set of rattling fine specimens for this splashy expedition into the world of fossils. A simple poem ("Dinosaurs are gone for good. / Maybe dinosaurs once lived in your neighborhood!") serves as an umbrella framework for a lesson on prehistoric favorites. Each turn of the page pairs a single stanza in hand-lettered type ("Dinosaurs had teeth to bite and jaws to chew") with an accompanying illustration, while a bite-size piece of additional information in smaller type helps extend the book's appeal to older readers ("The shape of the jaws and teeth help scientists find out if a dinosaur was a meat or plant eater"). The snappy, vigorous rhymes ("They had bones with disks and bones with points, / bones for running with sockets and joints") propel the production forward, while the artwork, a jazzy blend of pen-and-ink, watercolor, cut and torn paper and computer graphics, creates a tantalizing blend of streamlined shapes and saturated colors. Barner shows each spotlighted dinosaur in both skeletal and living form, and two concluding spreads offer more information in a height chart and "dinometer" chart, fleshing out such questions as "What did it eat?" and "What does its footprint look like?" A splendid introduction to a perennially popular subject.

Genres: Dinosaurs, Picture Books, Childrens, Science, Nonfiction, Storytime, Animals

Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

Bob Barner has been drawing since he was three years old. He graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design, then moved to Boston where he was an art director at several advertising agencies and design studios. He was hired to help comic strip creator Al Capp draw Li'l Abner and studied with Milton Glaser at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He lives with his wife, Cathie, in San Francisco, California, where, in 2004, he was honored as a San Francisco Library Laureate.

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

CUTE, CUTE, CUTE! The prose is short and rhymes, while the illustrations are bright and cheery... You can't help but smile while you are reading this. It is actually quite informative... and talks about the bones and teeth.

It would make a great read out loud book for kindergarten... all the little kids love dinosaurs!

4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Sidra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book to introduce your kids to dinosaurs which will be equally useful for adults. The information is precise yet vital.

[Haley Kilgour · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book good for younger kids (1-3) and older kids (4-7). The larger story is good for younger kids but dinosaur facts are added into the story that are great for older kids.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are not very many nonfiction books that really work well for very young children, but this one that does. As other reviewers have noted, there is a simple rhyming text at the top of each pair of pages, accompanied by more information in smaller bring. The illustrations are colorful, bright, attractive and uncluttered.

I read this book to groups of two-year olds and their parents, adding a bit of extra information to expand upon the rhymes, but much less than was included in the finer print text. With one group this book and this approach really held their interest. The other group had a harder time staying focused, but the book is short enough that they were able to stick with it, and then we moved on to singing "We are the Dinosaurs" and it was all good.

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited the Norman Public Library today with my nieces and nephew. My four-year-old nephew was fascinated with the display of books about dinosaurs so we checked out many of the books.

Dinosaur Bones shares how dinosaurs became extinct and what we can learn from their bones. There are descriptions about whether each type of dinosaur was a plant or meat eater. The T-Rex could not even scratch its chin due to the small arms.

This book and the fabulous artwork and content captured the attention of my nieces and nephews.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts off by telling you that dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago and then tells you why they are gone now. It goes into telling you how they can see what kind of food the dinosaur ate by looking at their teeth. As the book goes on it talks about the different dinosaurs and tell you different facts about each and everyone. The illustrations in the book are very colorful and I do think that would make for the kids to find the book cool. But in my opinion I think it would have been better to have actually looking photos.

[Mackenzie Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be good to introduce into a classroom. A teacher could use it as a science/reading lesson. It gives a lot of good facts about dinosaurs and children love dinosaurs so I think they would be very attentive. They talk about fossils, teeth, which dinosaurs eat meat and which don't. They show pictures of the different kinds of dinosaurs and talk about which ones travel in herds which is neat for the kids.

[Christina Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

February is learning about the city. This book could be read in two ways. For younger children, you can read just the story large text or for older children read the large and smaller text. The smaller text goes more in depth about dinosaurs, how they are displayed in museums, and what scientists can discover about bones. At the end of the book there are charts with further information about dinosaurs.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using rhyme and bold illustrations, the story is briefly told about dinosaurs who lived so long ago. Each two-page spread has scientific information included. At the end of the story eight dinosaurs are named and illustrated, with a scale to show how tall they grew; some to 5', some to 40'! On the last two pages there is a Dinometer, a chart showing five dinosaurs by: appearance, name, what they ate, length, weight, and footprint.

[★ℕłℂØℓҾ★ (Nix) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this book is awesome. For younger kids, there's a cute rhyming story along the top, then for older kids, there is more description and detail below. It's a book that matures with your kids! We currently just read the younger kid version, but I'm sure my oldest will want the more detailed information soon. He's such an information sponge.

[Suzanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhyming words, bouncy cadence, and simple, short lines on each page make this book perfect for pre-kinders. I would use this book to compare and contrast the descriptive words, allow students to make predictions for rhyming words, and in general to motivate children who love dinosaurs to look at books.

[Kaitlyn Papp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational
Grade: K-1
This book is full of good information about dinosaurs! There are many young students with the interest of dinosaurs and this would be a great book to get them interested in reading as well! There is also some rhyming involved that can help students learn about literature too. Great way to learn!

[Dusti Falgoust · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read for any young reader who wants to learn about dinosaurs (or just read every book in the library that is slightly related to them)! The cute illustrations and lovely rhymes are entertaining while the rest of the book fills in some of the informational gaps and teaches a lot of interesting dino facts.

[Mary Luzader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love children's nonfiction books like this. Each page has larger text that could just be read straight through like other picture books plus a small paragraph in smaller text that allows readers to dig a little deeper into the subject of the book.

[Tabitha Vanover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helps teach children about bones and dinosaurs. You could also use this book to teach the children about fossils. I also like how they talk about the dinosaurs and how they lived here on earth before us. Great way to incorporate a little history.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Children's Lit class. Cute idea with a clunky execution in the rhythms of the rhyming sentences. I do like the matched illustrations of the bones to how the dinosaurs would have looked in life.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information and nice bright pictures make this an appealing book for preschoolers, many of whom are interested in dinosaurs already. However I just wish some of these authors would lay off of the forced rhyming. Bad rhymes are the quickest way to turn me off from a book.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two "plotlines": one telling you - in rhymes - about dinosaurs and then, beneath the pictures, explanations outlining special features of different species. After a few pages I ignored the latter, but as a toddler I'd have adored it.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful nonfiction picture book that gives basic information on dinosaurs plus brief information on five different dinosaurs. Also makes a chart using these five dinosaurs so they can be compared with five characteristics.

[Jj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the dual text on each spread--BIG text for the big picture stuff, smaller text for the details. It works well for both audience/reading levels and different uses (such as storytime vs. classroom use). And, as always, nice bold yet detailed illustrations from Bob Barner along with the text.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations and story text are great and appropriate for young children. The facts text is a bit more in depth and too complex for young children. However, it’s a short read and good for kids who are curious about dinosaurs. Overall, 3/5 stars ⭐️

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introductory non-fiction book about dinosaurs.

Very colorful illustrations.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this book should be read in two separate readings, so that the reader can enjoy the rhyme of the art....then the facts of the dinosaurs presented.

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book with accurate information. GORGEOUS illustrations, very Day of the Dead like. Sugar skull dinosaurs, cute idea.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nonfiction book with great illustrations that make it a great candidate for storytime.

[steph s · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ebook format is bad

The pages of the book are interspersed with verbose footnotes.

It breaks up the flow. There is no way to turn them off that I can find.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teaches about dinosaurs! I would definitely use it in my classroom. It is a wonderful nonfiction picture book.

[Sophia]

Informational text presented in rhyming words, it is an exciting way to catch the interest of young readers. I would use the book for a second-grade class.

[Sofia Contreras]

The author creates fun rhyming text that helps young readers learn about dinosaurs.

[Meaganken]

Dinosaurs, Fossils, Informative