The Dinosaur Alphabet Book (Jerry Pallotta's Alphabet Books)

First, let me say that this is NOT an alphabet book. An alphabet book is a book geared towards the preschool age group to teach them their letters during storytime.

This book is pretty long for one storytime, it's very dense, it has some complicated information... and it's probably better suited for children closer to 8 than to 4. At that point, they already know their alphabet.

No, this book is a book about dinosaurs that happens to go in alphabetical order.

To that end, many - or all - of the dinosaurs will be unfamiliar to your child. Instead of running through the same short list of apatosaurus (brontosaurs to us old folk) and T-rexes and stegosauruses, these are all DIFFERENT dinosaurs. Your kid can actually learn something instead show more of repeating what he already knows.

The paragraphs about the dinosaurs are very informative, talking about their bones and teeth and various hypotheses for their extinction, and I really like that many of the dinosaurs are colored with fanciful colors (I particularly liked the Fabrosaurus) instead of the usual browns and greys and army greens. (Questrosaurus is done in black and white, with an explanation that of course we have NO IDEA what colors the dinosaurs were). show less

I remember when I first came upon this author and it was since of my elementary school. We had an assembly where the author was invited and ever since he told me there was a Julia butterfly I have been hooked with him.

The book writing is simple, large letters and easy for any child to read, especially with very young beginners. Unlike some of his other books this one is definitely geared towards an older audience since the dinosaurs (and some reptiles) cover species adults didn't learn about in school while there is no included pronunciation guide for some really stranger sounding ones.

The other thing that will catch the reader's attention is the beautiful detailed artwork, which is described further in the book as being fanciful show more since we just don't know. Otherwise the coloring of the subjects in this book could very well be true since they are beautiful yet well-blended in colors.

The author's well-known interactive reading style continues in this book. It asks the reader to answer a question, goes over what might be an oops such as including a non-dinosaur and then making a suggestion to replace it with a dinosaur. In the end the author also includes the comment that maybe the reader may be able to find another dinosaur of their own to join the known finds.

What gave an extra bonus to me is within the fun and yet barely noticeable learning while you read was the author added various known hypothesis' on how the dinosaurs die. Altogether it is definitely a fun book to get started on dinosaurs.

Definitely a literary gem! show less

Another good alphabet book for kids who don't like alphabet books. They'll be so wrapped up in looking at the dinosaur pictures and reading about each kind of dinosaur they won't realize they're also getting a lesson in the letters of the alphabet.

Has anyone ever thought about the dinosaurs that were said to live on Earth millions of years ago? I hear people often asking questions like, "How many were on Earth?" "Were all species found?" "What killed them?" Well, "The Dinosaur Alphabet Book" can help anyone find out information on dinosaurs that were discovered today. This book helps children understand the many different kinds of dinosaurs, the different characteristics each dinosaur had, what they ate, and how they survived for as long as they did. This text even touches on the theory of how dinosaurs became extinct. One may think that they know a whole lot about dinosaurs, but once you open "The Dinosaur Alphabet Book," I can promise that one will learn something knew. This show more book is also great to read to children because it helps them associate the alphabet with the names of each dinosaur. Children can quickly learn their letters from recognizing them in words throughout the book. show less

This book is great for dinosaur lovers. If the child fears dinosaurs, then I would not recommend reading this book. However, great book lesson with very educational meaning. Good for teaching the alphabet and different types of dinosaurs.

Alphabet book. Informational. Would be great for students who are interested in dinosaurs.
Gives other facts - mainly ideas on how dinos became extinct - in italic writing.

ECS