Thursday, July 01, 2010

Global Warming and the Dinosaurs by Caroline Arnold

The age of the dinosaurs was millions of years ago, but they lived exactly where humans do today. In fact, the dinosaurs covered more of the earth than we previously imagined! The far reaches of the world, the Arctic and Antarctic, used to be covered with forests. Also, global temperatures were much hotter than they are currently. Polar dinosaurs can be found in places such as Alaska, Canada, Australia, and South America. That is because the landmasses were only Laurasia and Gondwana. Since, they have split to become the seven continents that we know today. If dinosaurs were dominant in the world, what brought about their destruction?

The author's goal in this short story is to inform the reader about dinosaurs. She emphasizes the types of dinosaurs from different areas of the world. This book is not necessarily for pleasure reading. Its purpose to inform is met, however, because Arnold uses many descriptive words and presents the material in an organized fashion. I could foresee this book being used to teach elementary school children. My only dislike is that there are almost too many specific dinosaur names listed in the book. It would flow better if there were a chart in the back with the types of dinosaurs and less in the actual text.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, Pennsylvania United States of America