If Dinosaurs Lived in My Town

by Marianne Plumridge, Bob Eggleton (Illustrator)

Overview

Imagine a town where dinosaurs never went extinct. What would you do? Would you frantically run away and hide under your bed? Or, would you have a hamburger-eating contest with a Tyrannosaurus rex; go fishing with a Rhamphorhynchus; or travel through space with a Coelophysis? The possibilities are endless!

Can you guess which dinosaur would be a crossing guard, a babysitter, or a circus star? Presenting enjoyable, quirky scenarios led by lovable but gigantic creatures, readers of all ages will surely be whisked away to a world where a Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, and Leaellynasaura are merely your friendly neighbors. Marianne Plumridge includes insightful facts about your favorite dinos, which complement Bob Eggleton's vivid and imaginative illustrations to create a thrilling experience for kids and parents to enjoy. Prepare to enter a world ruled by dinosaurs and humans alike!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628733587
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	11/01/2013
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	56
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	4 - 18 Years

About the Author

Marianne Plumridge is an artist, writer, and reviewer in the science fiction, fantasy, and mystery genres. Her Heartsong sculpture was the recipient of a Chesley Award nomination in 2000. Currently, Marianne's work can be found gracing the covers of Dreams of Decadence magazine, greeting cards from Milk & Honey Inc., and inside the Mermaid and Dolphin Oracle card deck from Hay House Inc.

Bob Eggleton is a successful science fiction, fantasy, horror, and landscaping artist with over twenty years of experience. He is the recipient of nine Hugo Awards, twelve Chesley Awards, as well as various magazine awards. He also works as a conceptual illustrator for movies and thrill rides. The most recent movie work includes The Ant Bully and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Editorial Reviews

10/14/2013
The husband-and-wife team of Plumridge and Eggleton, with a photocomposition assist from Cortney Skinner (who gets a nod on the copyright page), ups the ante for books that imagine how real dinosaurs might add a cool factor to modern life, especially where kids are involved. Each “What if?” spread seamlessly brings together encyclopedia-quality portraits of both popular and obscure dinosaurs with documentary style scenes, while Plumridge’s succinct “Dinosaur Factprint” sidebars strike a nice balance between fanciful and factual. As a photograph shows a group of kids waiting at an intersection, a watchful illustrated corythosaurus (seen holding a stop sign) proves she is the ideal crossing guard, “large enough to stop traffic and colorful enough to not need the neon vests.” The incongruity is consistently fun (another group of children climb a stegosaurus like it’s a piece of playground equipment), and some of the images are gorgeous, like the cryolophosaurus trapeze artist flying above a circus crowd or the bambiraptor reveling in the spray of a backyard hose as it gets a bath from its owners. Ages 3–8. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2014
PreS-K—What would your hometown be like if dinosaurs had not gone extinct? Combining modern photography with colorful, semi-realistic artwork, Plumridge and Eggleton provide some interesting possibilities. A Corythosaurus ("big enough to stop traffic") could be a school crossing-guard, a speedy Ornithomimus would be perfect for the track team, and a "very gentle" Maiasaura might be a splendid babysitter. (And then there is that leashed T-rex creating the need for a huge pooper-scooper!) Each facing page spread contains a "Dinosaur Factprint!" box containing a pronunciation guide and some pertinent data on the dino depicted. A small carp here-four of the inclusions were not dinosaurs–Rhamphoryncus, Peteinosaurus and Pteranodon were all Pterosaurs, and Liopleurodon was a Pliosaur (whose exact size is a matter of scientific controversy). Appended is a list of references, for those looking for "more, please!" Eye-catching and fun (if more than a tad far-fetched), this is a evolutionary improvement on Bernard Most's very golden-oldie If the Dinosaurs Came Back (Harcourt 1978) and will have imaginative kids conjuring up their own ideas, and inspiring them to hit the shelves for scientific works as well.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2013-09-01
A mishmash of prehistoric fact and fancy, well overmatched by illustrations featuring images of full-sized dinos that look just as real as the photographed children who pose around or on them. With a similar premise to Bernard Most's classic If the Dinosaurs Came Back (1978) but without even its loose brand of internal logic, the author introduces 26 dinosaurs by name and suggests a supposed occupation or consequence. These often appear to be entirely arbitrary: "If a Tarbosaurus lived in my town… / …he and his cousin, Tyrannosaurus Rex, could have a hamburger eating contest!" In frequently clumsy phrasing (Corythosaurus "had hundreds of little teeth inside of her cheeks to chew with"), added dinosaur "Factprints" on each spread offer mixes of "facts" that sometimes contradict fossil evidence, as with a claim that Liopleurodon was larger than the blue whale. Others are just pure speculation: Maiasaura "would be very gentle with tiny human children" and Parasaurolophus calls "sounded like notes played on a French horn, or even a deep-throated trombone or bassoon." On the other hand, though many bear human expressions, Eggleton's dinosaurs are both realistically detailed and convincingly integrated into playgrounds and other familiar modern settings. The most recent reference in the bibliography is dated 2006, and one is as old as 1988. Eye-brightening visuals in search of a better text. (index, not seen) (Picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews