STOMP AND CHOMP

Welcome to the world of the dinosaurs.

Despite the subtitle, this likely won’t be children’s first book of dinosaurs—most little ones’ first exposure to the ancient reptiles will likely come well before they’re old enough to read a relatively complex text like this. Even a 7-year-old might be stymied by comparing a dinosaur’s weight to “100 grand pianos” or “350 reindeer,” let alone to “10,000 cats.” And vocabulary such as quadruple, clamber, kazoo, and magma might trip them up. The author implies that Cedarosaurus produced a stench comparable to “a massive moving compost bin” (though proper compost shouldn’t have an unpleasant odor). Saying that “dinosaurs can’t swim” misses a key distinction between several that could floppily flounder and those that could smoothly stroke—probably only Spinosaurus. (Too late for this book, the 12/22 discovery of an aquatic dinosaur, Natovenator polydontus, dethroned Spinosaurus.) An allusion to dinosaur development fails to mention evolution. The reign of dinosaurs here ends in fire with the asteroid apocalypse. A simplified timeline puts Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus in the same period, though they were separated by at least 30 million years. The text is arranged in verse, some actually poetic, while other bits are amusing and imaginative but short on information. Colorful, Carle-inspired illustrations are the best part of this book: They would make fantastic posters.

Romping, stomping images don’t compensate for target-audience confusion.