How Dinosaurs Really Work by Alan Snow

How Dinosaurs Really Work by Alan Snow
Buy How Dinosaurs Really Work by Alan Snow at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Children's Non-Fiction
Reviewer: Trish Simpson-Davis
Summary: A fun book about those ever-popular dinosaurs, with an interest level from about 6 to 12 years.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: March 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
ISBN: 978-0857073143
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It’s sometimes difficult to find books which appeal to reluctant readers, particularly boys. Three cheers, then, for Alan Snow who has produced a really smashing book about those ever-popular dinosaurs. Here is a book which will appeal not only to bright kids during their inevitable dinosaur phase, and also to more struggling readers, a little later on. This is exactly the sort of book kids can pore over for several weeks on end in order to become something of an authority on prehistoric animals in front of their mates.

When a child is really interested in the content, he’ll try all the harder to read it. Several times! Every single word! Predicting text from pictures and context and word building from syllables are both great activities to build reading fluency. With a reading age of around 7.5, I’m sure the hardback version, due out in August 2013, will be well-thumbed in junior school libraries.

I’d also thoroughly recommend this book for parents, looking to motivate their junior-aged children to read for pleasure. The book is organised for dipping, with a magazine fun-format of bite-sized chunks for the newish reader. It has a conversational, kid-to-kid tone. I enjoyed the rumbustious cartoon illustrations, which provide humour and eye-catching interest on every page. There’s plenty of schoolboy jokes and enough novel material to keep knowledgeable young palaeontologists interested, as well. What more could we ask for?

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending this book.

There are so many excellent books about dinosaurs out there. Among the best are If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today by Dougal Dixon, Alphasaurs and Other Prehistoric Types by Sharon Werner and Sarah Nelson Forss and Dinosaurs (Henry's House) by Philip Ardagh and Mike Gordon.

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