Prehistoric Sea Beasts

April 1, 2017
Gr 4-7-Combining a clever use of digital photography with well-researched material, this thoroughly engaging series reimagines prehistoric creatures inhabiting our contemporary world. Whether it's a paraceratherium strolling down a modern New York City avenue (Giants) or a giant sea scorpion enclosing an unfortunate scuba diver in its monstrous pincers (Sea Beasts), illustrator Mendez's artistic renderings are scarily authentic, and when superimposed within the scenes of daily life, the effect is simultaneously jarring and thrilling. Rake's meticulous fact-finding makes great use of sidebars to share standard information about each beast, such as name pronunciation, measurements, when and where it lived, and human-to-creature size comparisons, while introducing more specific, descriptive details in each entry's narrative. Finer points such as these as well as handy time lines and the inclusion of paleontology career options combine to make this easy-to-read but hard-to-put-down series one of a kind. VERDICT Whether dinosaur fans or not, readers of all ages will enjoy this visually stunning, informative, and, at times, humorous look at prehistory-libraries won't want to miss out.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
Each volume sets ten extinct species within a modern-day context as hokey narratives imagine what it would be like to run into one of these creatures. The text also conveys slight facts about the animals, and each entry includes field guidelike stats about size, locales, and time periods. The computer-generated illustrations clumsily juxtapose modern and extinct species. Timeline. Ind.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)