Stemosaurus

by Andrew Root, Mark Chambers (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet Spike the Stemosaurus: he’s curious, great with numbers, and about to save the day!

Not everyone has heard of Spike, the Stemosaurus. Unlike the other dinosaurs, he’s small, quiet, and rather weak. But Spike has boundless curiosity. He loves math, making inventions, and discovering new things about the world around him. Which is why the other dinosaurs come to him when they discover something LARGE heading right toward the earth. It’s a giant meteor!

What’s a STEM-loving dinosaur to do? Save his friends, that’s what! Spike is about to come up with the invention of a lifetime…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662520471
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	07/22/2025
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.83(w) x 11.09(h) x 0.36(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Andrew Root is a children’s book author from rainy Portland, Oregon. His picture books include Nerdycorn, illustrated by Erin Kraan, which received a 2022 Kids’ Book Choice Award for Best Picture Book Dream Team, and Hamsters Don’t Fight Fires!, illustrated by Jessica Olien. Andrew also works in the mental health field and holds a BA in psychology and an MS in mental health counseling. When not working, Andrew enjoys running absurd distances and playing soccer with his wife, two children, and dog. Oh, and he can juggle. Just not very well.

Mark Chambers is an award-winning author and illustrator of numerous children’s books. His illustrated books include Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins, written by Sue Fliess, which Kirkus Reviews called an “exuberant adventure.” In 2013, Mark won the Sheffield Children’s Picture Book Award and was short-listed for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. In 2017, his artwork entitled We Will Remember was short-listed for the AOI World Illustration Awards. Mark lives with his wife and their two dogs in the French Pyrenees. Follow Mark on Instagram @markachambers.

Editorial Reviews

This whimsical tale…celebrates friendship, cooperation, and the idea that everyone’s got strengths and talents worthy of respect—and wittily turns the meteors-killed-off-dinosaurs theory on its ear. The dynamic digital illustrations are comically appealing…A saur-ingly fun read. Hand this to those who love dinos and all things science.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-04-19
A science-loving dinosaur saves his friends.

Few have heard of Spike the Stemosaurus, who’s inquisitive and good with numbers. Small and quiet, he’s not nearly as well known as his more rambunctious pals, who enjoy wrestling, heavy lifting, and racing; Spike prefers exploring, inventing, and learning about the world. Sometimes he longs to be strong, tall, and fast, like his pals. He invents “cretaceous contraptions” to make those wishes real, but he still sees himself as “a rather weak, slightly short, kind of awkward Stemosaurus.” When a giant meteor begins hurtling to Earth one day, Spike does some mathematical calculations and concludes that its impact will be catastrophic. The other dinos are terrified, but Spike devises a solution, and together the friends build the “first-ever TERRIFIC TEAMWORK TRIASSIC TELEPORTER.” Everyone climbs aboard, and Spike sets the time machine—for 65 million years hence! Flash-forward to the present: Everyone’s aware of the Stemosaurus now. This whimsical tale will delight dinosaur fans and other science-minded kids. It celebrates friendship, cooperation, and the idea that everyone’s got strengths and talents worthy of respect—and wittily turns the meteors-killed-off-dinosaurs theory on its ear. The dynamic digital illustrations are comically appealing. Bespectacled blue Spike and the dinosaurs are adorable; background humans are diverse.

A saur-ingly fun read. Hand this to those who love dinos and all things science.(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews