American Museum of Natural History

This book has so many characteristics of a great non-fiction children's book. First impression is eye-catching. The size, weight, and cover design is unique and captivating. The perfect square proportions, the high contrast art, and the hints of reflective stars make this book a kid magnet. The pages are similar to a board book without the overwhelming weight and bulk. There is also no end pages or white space to lose a child's attention. Each page consists of 2-3 letters with its show more accompanying universe fact. All ages will find something amazing to learn, see, or ask more about. Where most science books might "dumb it down" to reach a younger target audience, this book finds a balance of simplicity and wonder. Even as an adult, there were terms I was unfamiliar with. The back cover has a brief section about the American Museum of Natural History. This leads me to believe this book would be found in the museum gift shop instead of a class library. I would bet they sell out quickly. show less

omg
I think I just found a new favorite science book for children.
Gorgeous illustrations (that remind me of Eric Carle's work) and fun riddles teach us that dinosaurs tell only some of the story of prehistoric life on Earth.

Unfortunately the timeline doesn't show the chronology to scale, but a note does point out that, for example, "you and I are much closer in time to T. Rex than T. Rex was to Stegosaurus." Also, the critters in the book are not in order of time, and in fact I don't see an show more order at all.

However, the book does 1. explain why the swimmers and flyers that we think of as dinos aren't, 2. explain why birds are living dinosaurs, 3. remind us that man is an animal, and that we are related to Neanderthals, and 4. give some examples of actual dinos (in addition to a parakeet).

It also has two essays, notes on the exemplar species, and the 'timeline.' It does not have index or bibliography/ further reading.

If I were using this in classroom or with my own children, I would redraw the timeline to scale and add a lot more critters *and plants* to it.

I do highly recommend this to everyone, despite the flaws. To have all the 'what is' and 'what isn't' and 'what the definition is' laid out in one short beautiful book is immensely valuable. show less

Very clear and lovely illustrations. Pronunciation guides! Yay for pronunciation guides! Unusual dinosaurs- not the usual cast of ABC characters, which is extra-engaging for the jaded five-year-old who knows all the REGULAR dinosaurs already. The oversized board book is perfect for lap-reading, too.

This collection features photographs of 40 extinct or endangered insect species, using specimens from the American Museum of Natural History. Some only include one full-body photograph, while others include extreme close-ups of particular features.

Each insect includes a couple paragraphs of text to provide some context - whether the insects are extinct or endangered, where they can be found, what we know about why they're extinct or endangered, etc.

I got this for the photographs, and the show more photographs delivered. Literally the only complaint I could think of was that it would have been nice for the specimens to have included scale rulers. It would have interrupted the lovely black backgrounds, though, so I would also have accepted an approximate size mentioned in the accompanying text. Some specimens included this, but many didn't.

I need to check out Levon Biss's other photograph collections at some point.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less