Welcome to the Museum
Written by Lily Murray, Illustrated by Chris Wormell
Dinosaurium is an excellent, if brief, review of prehistoric life. It does not shy away from topics of feathers or avian evolution, and shows even Tyrannosaurus with feathers. Images of skeletons often accompany the life portraits of animals, which are brilliantly and artistically rendered, and the book unusually gives time to Mesozoic mammals alongside the typically starring dinosaurs and pterosaurs. I enjoy the format, grouping the animals with only their closest relatives and spotlighting especially interesting fossil discoveries (such as the fighting Protoceratops and Velociraptor from Mongolia)’.
Only two complaints from me: several of the illustrations have outdated or incorrect proportions, making this book, while informative and up-to-date as far as text goes, a poor reference for a budding artist. Sadly this is often the case in dinosaur books. The other complaint is that pterosaurs and sea reptiles are treated as afterthoughts. Neither of these groups are dinosaurs, and so I should arguably be grateful that they are given place in a dinosaur book at all, but I find that neither has been given proper due in books of ancient reptiles despite their importance to the time period.
Review by Matthew Haynes, Western Hills Elementary
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 2-4
Welcome to the Museum
Dinosaurium
Written by Lily Murray, Illustrated by Chris Wormell
Big Picture Press
112 pages
Release Date: April 10, 2018 (USA)
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
