Dinos Galore!

HOW BIG WERE DINOSAURS? by Lita Judge. Roaring Brook Press, August 2013.

THE GREATEST DINOSAUR EVER by Brenda Z. Guiberson with illustrations by Gennady Spirin. Holt, October 2013.

THE BIG GOLDEN BOOK OF DINOSAURS by Robert Bakker with illustrations by Luis Rey. Golden Book, 2013.


So, all you looking for books for meeting CCSS standards, here I a trio that, used together, will provide for some interesting material for classroom lessons. Compare and contrast illustrations in terms of media and style. Examine how the texts are different from one book to another. From informational text to narrative nonfiction to books that use a more fanciful blend of fiction and fact: this demonstrates that simply using the term nonfiction will never suffice.

tooth fairies

THE DINOSAUR TOOTH FAIRY by Martha Brockenbrough with illustrations by Israel Sanchez. AAL/Scholastic, 2013.


Dino tooth fairy
Bereft because teeth are scarce
Might collect kid's teeth.

Clip, Clop!

THE THREE TRICERATOPS TUFF by Stephen Shaskan. Beach Lane, 2013.

This parody of The Three Billy Goats Gruff should appeal to all those dinosaur lovers in your class. They clip clop down into a valley where they encounter a T-rex. How the three triceratops get the better of the T-rex is perfect. This might become a mentor text for older readers and also an introduction to the traditional tale for those who have not yet encountered it.

Dinos!

DINO PET (Imagine 2012) by Marc Sedaka is based on his father's song, "Calendar Girl." The books comes with a CD with three songs including the one in the title. A boy watches as his young dino grows and grows all to the refrain of "I love I love I love my little dinosaur pet" (and now I apologize for putting this lyric in your head for the day). Kids will love reading the book and then listening to the music that accompanies it. <154>




DANCING WITH DINOSAURS by Jane Clarke with illustrations by Lee Wildish (Imagine 2012) takes dinosaurs and puts them on a Dancing with the Stars sort of show. They all hope to wow the judges who seem to be disappearing one at a time. I wonder where the judges will end up? Tie this to the lovely poetry collection by Jane Yolen DINOSAUR DANCES. <155>

time time time

CHRONAL ENGINE by Greg Leitich Smith (Clarion, March 2012) will transport readers back in time along with four young teens to the era of dinosaurs in Texas. Dinosaurs in Texas, you ask? Yep, there are plenty of fossils here to demonstrate their presence. Max, Kyle, and Emma know that already as their reclusive grandfather lives on land where dino tracks are clearly in evidence. When they are sent to spend the summer with their grandfather, they are excited to have the chance to see the Loblolly Dinosaur Tracks. What they do not expect, though, is an even greater adventure. The three siblings along with Petra, the daughter of their grandfather's housekeeper discover the time machine in their grandfather's workroom. Soon, Emma is kidnapped and her brothers Max and Kyle, along with Petra, use the time machine to travel back to the Cretaceous period. Lots of narrow escapes from foes both human and saurapod await these kids in this fast paced novel. <31>