Dinothesaurus

Book Review
Module 3
Poetry

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Florian, Douglas. Dinothesaurus. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing Division, 2009. ISBN 9781416979784

PLOT SUMMARY:

Douglas Florian creates a book of "prehistoric poems and paintings". His anthology contains twenty-three dino-themed verses. Mr. Florian cleverly constructs poems that are entertaining, as well as instructional.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The poetic formula is arranged with the consistency of altering rhyming lines. Each poem is to be experienced while learning will come from the whole. Scientific terms and dinosaur names are incorporated and lend credibility to the information relayed. Among my favorite is the first poem title the Age of Dinosaurs where Mr. Florian includes each of the periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The majority of the poems are based on individual types of dinosaurs. Among the species included are: Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Plesiosaurs, Seismasaurus, Baryonyx, Tyrannosaurus rex, Iguanodon, Triceratops, Ankylasaurus, and Barosairis. Deinanychus, Stegaceras, Micropachycephalosaurus, Troadon, Pterosaurs, Minmi and Spinosaurus. He concludes his collection with the poem "End of the Dinosaurs" and follows with a "Glossarysaurus" and references for dinosaur museums, fossil sites and finally a bibliography with further reading suggestions.

 Mr. Florian is responsible for the illustrations filling this book of poetry. The pictures are all combinations of multimedia. Mr. Florian uses pastels, paper cutting, collage with copied images and newspaper clippings, paint, colored pencil, watercolor and ink wash. The childlike "prehistoric" style of each illustration, not only compliments the subjects of each poem, is intriguing and displays a fresh interpretation of the extinct species.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award, 2010; Nominee
Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 13))

Starred Review* Florian, whose previous picture-book poetry collections have covered the animal kingdom, from dogs and cats to lizards and pollywogs, takes a few evolutionary steps back in this exuberant verse roundup of prehistoric creatures.

 Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 2))

In the fine tradition of Jack Prelutsky's Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, illustrated by Arnold Lobel (1988), a set of dinophile-pleasing verses penned by a poet with a rare knack for wordplay and silly rhymes finds apt visual setting fronting playful images of monsters rearing up from extinction to grin toothily at young viewers.

CONNECTIONS:
Art: Collage/ Mixed Media art of Romare Bearden (1914 - 1988)
Romare Bearden Foundation
Romare Bearden Lesson Ideas

Dinosaur thematic units

Literature: Other works by Douglas Florian

Lesson Plans site: A to Z teacher stuff http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Dinosaurs/

Information Resource: Children's Literature Comprehensive Database http://www.childrenslit.com/index.php

Mr. Florian reading poetry from Dinothesaurus. Additional links appearing under the finished video are the property of those who posted their video on Youtube. I have not followed all links. User discretion is advised when veiwing any unknown links.

Images credited to Romare Bearden's Homepage and  Art of Romare Bearden: A resource for Teachers. Video provided by Simon & Shuster via Youtube.