A graded reader for dinosaur fanatics
Kate McMullan taught elementary school in inner-city Los Angeles and on an American Air Force base in Germany. After earning a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education, she decided to try her hand at writing, and settled in New York City. She also writes under the names K.H. McMullan and Katy Hall and has more than 50 children's books to her credit, including her bestselling picture book collaborations with her husband Jim.
Gr 2-4-- This easy reader is a quick introduction to paleontological history, covering general information on how fossils are formed and found, who discovered them, and some of the newer dinosaur theories deduced from these theories. Anecdotes about paleontologists' eccentricities and dinosaurs' quirks keep the text lively, without overwhelming readers with unnecessary details. Information about dinosaurs is up-to-date, and, despite standard textbook illustrations, the book provides a nice alternative to Parish's Dinosaur Time (Harper, 1974) or Milton's Dinosaur Days (Random, 1985). --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
This informative entry in the Step into Reading series is a well-paced historical survey of paleontology. Readers learn of Mary Ann and Gideon Mantell's pivotal discovery of Iguanadon; the intense rivalries that characterized the 19th-century race for dinosaur discoveries in America's West; the vast amount of dinosaur remains yet to be studied by scientists; and current work of ``Dinosaur Jim'' Jensen, who discovered the Brachiosaurus, the Supersaurus and the Ultrasaurus. Many fascinating details are included in a chapter covering the how-to's of early dinosaur digs contrasted with today's technologically advanced, yet still labor-intensive world of scientific discovery. The book presents a great mix of lively narrative and satisfying facts, a perfect choice for newly independent readers. Ages 7-10. (May)
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