BABY DINOSAUR

Touchable textures, eye-catching foil and glitter, and the titular, winsome baby beasts highlight this introduction for toddlers to these fascinating lizards of yore.

From its thick, cushioned cover through its firm, final pages, this seemingly indestructible volume introduces seven species of dinosaurs, with a few basic facts and the correct pronunciation of each name. A “mommy” Saltasaurus has a long, leathery neck; her chirping offspring hatches from an egg. Children can feel the bumps on Edmontonia’s back and count the toes via his footprints: “His front feet have more toes.” Tyrannosaurus rex walks on two hind legs and eats meat, while baby Diplodocus, shown munching on ferns, is a confirmed vegetarian. Other dinosaurs are simply shown being babies. Triceratops hides in bushes and plays peekaboo, Styracosaurus is alert and playful, and Stegosaurus has fallen peacefully asleep on the last page. The hope, no doubt, is that pint-sized paleontologists reading this book will soon follow suit. Each dinosaur is computer-rendered but loaded with personality. Illustrations are presented on bright, monochromatic backgrounds; each white page is paired with a bright blue, red, yellow, pink, or purple one. Every page includes a textured feature to keep little fingers engaged and busy: leathery skin, gravelly footprints, embossed bumpy hides, or debossed horns or stripes, to name a few.

This simple primer on the lizards that once roamed the Earth should inspire plenty of further explorations of the fossil record.