DINOSAURS!: Explorer

Gr 4–6—Fascinated by the lives of dinosaurs? Then call yourself Agent Eagle, and accept the mission on the first page of this colorfully illustrated and fact-packed prehistoric adventure. This book tells not only of the evolution of dinosaurs, but also of the evolution of paleontology. It has everything kids would expect from a good dino book (habitat, species, life cycle), and things they'll be pleasantly surprised to find (hypotheses about dinosaur extinction, short biographies of several paleontology rock stars, and suggestions for the best places to find fossils). In the "Dinosaurs Today" chapter, readers will see how modern-day birds have their ancestral roots in theropods (small, bipedal dinosaurs), or test their knowledge with brain teasers and a quiz. A six-foot time line poster detailing all the creatures covered concludes the work. Because of the book's "mission file" format, there are no page numbers, table of contents, or index. However, while readers will learn all sorts of useful information, this one's meant for fun over function.