Bea Reviews Dinosaurs from Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick & Kwanchai Moriya

Publisher: Kids Can Press
Format Read: eGalley 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review 
Challenges: NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge  
Release Date: March 1, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | 
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Blurb from goodreads:

From one dinosaur's head to another's tail, this informational picture book challenges readers to guess which prehistoric creature each of eight different body parts belongs to. (For example, "What dinosaur had claws like this?") For each question, the answer is given on the following spread, with an overview that includes the name of the dinosaur, an illustration of the entire animal in its habitat and facts about the featured body part, such as why it looked the way it did and how scientists believe it was used. The colorful and eye-catching collage illustrations by Kwanchai Moriya offer a unique and friendly approach to the ever-popular subject of dinosaurs. The creatures are a mix of the popular (Tyrannosaurus) and the lesser-known (Therizinosaurus) and allow children the satisfaction of guessing some correctly while learning about others. A pronunciation guide accompanies the first mention of each dinosaur's name. There is also a bonus spread at the end of the book containing a quick look at seven more intriguing dinosaurs. Balancing a captivating picture book experience with just the right level of information, it is an ideal bridge between a basic concept book and a detailed encyclopedic book. It would work perfectly in a group lesson on prehistoric creatures or on animal bodies, with the highly engaging, interactive guessing-game component providing a way of enlivening the classroom discussion. It could also be used individually by higher-level readers as an interesting nonfiction choice or a reference book.

Bea's Thoughts:

Dinosaurs! Most kids love dinosaurs, their size, their variety, their ferociouness whether real or imagined. When I requested this for review, one of my preschool classes had just finished up a month long exploration of dinosaurs so I had dinosaurs on the brain.

I liked the book and my class of 4 and 5 year olds did too. They didn't love it but they had fun looking at it, trying to guess the dinosaur from the body part shown. Having spent a month studying dinosaurs, they did well with the more familiar types and liked seeing the unfamiliar ones. There were even some bits of new information which both the kids and I enjoyed learning.

The pictures are bright and colorful but I found the artwork, chunky yet sometimes abstract collage, to be an odd choice for a non-fiction that aims to teach kids about a subject. You may feel differently. At times the artwork actually confused the kids. That led to some good conversations but I'd have preferred that the artwork enhance the text, not distract from it. Still, the children enjoyed it and it was bright and cheery.

The dinosaurs displayed in the book were a mix of familiar and unfamiliar which added to the challenge of identifying them from a single body part. The book also dispels a few common misconceptions about dinosaurs. Whether your child wants to learn more about dinosaurs, enjoys guessing games, or just likes to look at the pictures, most kids from two years up to about six years old will enjoy this book.