Dinosong

PreS-K–The team behind Watersong shares the adventures of three young Cretaceous-era dinosaurs—a triceratops, an ankylosaurus, and a sauropod—using only spare, rhyming, onomatopoeic words. The three dinosaur friends, rendered in bright pastels with oversized eyes, enjoy exploring their world until a violent thunderstorm and a volcanic eruption put an end to their rough-and-tumble adventures. On the two-page spread where the magma explodes from the volcano, few words are used: “Shuffle scuffle. Slam bam BOOM!” Eventually the three friends stumble through a cave where they are reunited with their families. The layout of text, which readers will want to sound out, gives predominance to the vivid illustrations, which make excellent use of contrast and color. Back matter includes sophisticated facts about dinosaurs and the Cretaceous era, aimed at a higher reading level than that of the body of the text.