DINOSAURS AND THE PREHISTORIC WORLD

From France, a STEM-centric guide for younger dinophiles to dinosaur types, habits, characteristics, predecessors, descendants, and study.

Being printed on card stock between sturdy covers with rounded corners, this broad overview is set up to survive the heavy use it is likely to get from fledgling readers eager to know everything there is to know about the paleo-world. Though at least one of the four illustrators is overfond of googly eyes and all use a relatively muted palette of skin tones and patterns, the multiple dinos on display in each populous gallery are generally drawn with attention to distinctive physical details. They are sometimes shown in flight from a predator or even (neatly) chowing down on prey. Along with general commentary presented in one- or two-sentence bites, the dinosaurs each come with an identifying label and a plain-language caption that highlights action (“walking on two legs”) or a significant feature (“huge claws”). A side panel on each spread zeroes in on a special topic like “What did dinosaurs smell like?” with cross-references at the bottom, and each of the four topical chapters ends with a review quiz. A final chapter shows modern researchers at work in the field, a lab, a library, and elsewhere. The cartoon human figures there and between chapters nearly all look like children but are on closer looks diverse in age as well as sex and skin color. That also holds true in the co-published Oceans and Marine Life, by Stéphanie Babin and translated by Hardenberg.Despite a single chapter on marine animals and lots of marine flora and fauna in the art, this title is largely focused on human use. Besides spreads devoted to beaches and boats of various sorts, topics range from aquaculture and water sports to aquariums and related topics like pollution, conservation, and the water cycle.

With its companion, durable, content-rich overviews likely to draw and engage board-book grads.