Feathered Dinosaurs

by Brenda Z. Guiberson, William Low (Illustrator)

Overview

Millions of years ago, before there were red-breasted robins and busy blue jays . . . there were feathered dinosaurs. Scientists have found evidence that Anchiornis, Caudipteryx, Confuciusornis, and many more dinosaurs all had feathers. Discover these amazing ancient creatures—and the connection between feathered dinosaurs and modern-day birds!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250114341
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	121 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Brenda Z. Guiberson is the author of many books for children, including The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea, Frog Song, Life in the Boreal Forest, Moon Bear, and the bestselling Cactus Hotel. She lives near Seattle, Washington.

William Low is the author and illustrator of Daytime Nighttime, Machines Go to Work in the City, Chinatown, and the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Old Penn Station. Mr. Low is a four-time silver-medal winner at the Society of Illustrators. He teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2016
Gr 2–5—Considering the flood of feathery dinosaurs being unearthed in newly found fossil beds, this attractive addition is timely. Guiberson's brief, informative paragraphs of text are accompanied by Low's soft-edged, realistic oil and acrylic paintings, presenting a baker's dozen of feathered (and nonfeathered) critters, all demonstrating the evolutionary path from toothy therapod to the raucous blue jays fussing at backyard feeders. Guiberson provides such wondrous details as the discovery of melanosomes on some fossils, which indicate the actual coloration of the living beast. Who knew Sinosauropteryx had a tail ringed in orange and white? Or Anchiornis a bright red crest? There is no time line on which to orient these new finds in Earth's long history, nor is there a global map to file them in our mental GPS. A long bibliography (comprised mostly of adult titles) is included. Definitely more up-to-date than Dougal Dixon's simple Bambiraptor and Other Featured Dinosaurs (Picture Window, 2008) or Christopher Sloane's excellent How Dinosaurs Took Flight: The Fossils, the Science, What We Think We Know, and Mysteries Yet Unsolved (National Geographic, 2005), this will fill the information gap while more detailed works are in progress. VERDICT Nifty lo-cal fodder for insatiable dinophiles.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2015-11-11
Recently discovered hints that most dinosaurs may have been feathered cap a gallery of prehistoric predecessors to today's birds. The presentation has more of a cobbled-together feel than Guiberson's previous look at the deep past, The Greatest Dinosaur Ever (illustrated by Gennady Spirin, 2013). Despite the title, the book goes beyond feathers. Guiberson discusses how the colors of fossilized feathers can be deduced from the shapes of their microscopic melanosomes, but she also describes early appearances of other avian features such as wishbones and a two-legged stance. But that anatomical focus doesn't extend to the illustrations, as in the dimly lit paintings, dinosaurs loom indistinctly, their colors muted and limbs tightly folded or otherwise angled so that structural details are hard to make out. Eoalulavis appears only as a few tiny figures winging past a pair of immense sauropods, and the towering ornithischian confronting a modern ostrich on the final spread isn't identified at all. The portraits are arranged in rough chronological order, but there are no clues in text or pictures to the dinosaurs' specific eras. Despite a reference to the "teeny wings" of Hesperornis and a few other breaks in tone, the author's commentary is otherwise solid…until its grand but insupportable closing claim that birds now inhabit "every environment on Earth." Fine viewing, but more of an art exhibit than a systematic family history. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews