Dinosaur Wars: Deadly Dinosaurs Go Head-to-Head Mom Review

Get ready for your child to bare his teeth, pull out his claws, and roar in excitement after looking at this book. Dinosaur Wars: Deadly Dinosaurs Go Head-to-Head is jam-packed with battling, fighting, clawing, biting, attacking dinosaurs—perfect for any kid who is already a serious dinosaur enthusiast.

The best nonfiction children’s books are ones that pack in a whole bunch of information yet are presented in a fun, interesting way. I’ve heard the term “kidded up” in the world of kid’s literature—books are “kidded up” when information is packaged in a really explosive, exciting way. Dinosaur Wars is all kidded up and ready to be enjoyed by a dinosaur-loving kid near you.

The book is laid out chronologically: the dinosaurs are introduced to readers according to when they first walked on the earth — first the Triassic Period, then Jurassic Period and finally the Cretaceous Period. Kids learn that dinosaurs belonged to one of two orders: the lizard-hipped saurischians and the bird-hipped ornithischians.

(Side note: I really do wish that my husband would take over the job of reading all dinosaur books, because my pronunciation of these amazing creatures’ names really is frightening! Luckily, when each dinosaur species is introduced in Dinosaur Wars, there is a pronunciation guide that helps me out.)

The main punch of this book is delivered in the pages after the introduction, when two dinosaurs appear, seeming to go head-to-head in a boxer-style match up. I can just hear the “ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?” boom through the loudspeaker and I might have pretended to be that announcer when reading this to my boys. Each dinosaur that is matched up has identical battle features that are rated differently, so kids can compare their overall score. Additional information is provided on the page, as well as a guide to their height through a relative comparison. Fun pictures and graphs point out different parts of the dinosaurs that either help or hinder them in this hypothetical match-up.

Some kids will use their imagination and take off from here, creating in their mind the epic battle between these two rivals. In the back of the book, there are posted results of the fights between each dino duo. So the comparison study does appear to have a black-and-white result, and some of the ties are interesting lessons in their own way. My personal favorite was the battle between Tenontosaurus and Deinonychus—the former is considerably stronger and more capable yet the latter travels and fights in packs, and teamwork has its advantages.

My oldest, a girl, is less inclined to learn through a battle-heavy book like this, but my two boys loved the fights between the beasts and they will be able to digest all the information packed in the pages in a few years. If your kids are dino-obsessed and especially if they are creative and physically inclined and maybe even used to wrestling their brother, their cousin, or the family dog…then this book will be a perfect fit.

 

Dinosaur Wars: Deadly Dinosaurs Go Head-to-Head

By Phil Manning & Peter Minister

Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd

URL: www.ticktockbooks.com

Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million!

MSRP: approximately $9

Ages: 7-12 years

   

Readability 3
Illustrations 4
Kept my Child(ren’s) Interest
3
Appealed to Both Boys and Girls
3
I Would Purchase for My Child No
I Would Purchase as a Gift  Yes
Overall Rating
4

All ratings on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).

 

Meet the Reviewer!

Kate Schwarz is a full-time mom and wife living in Great Falls, VA. In addition to reading to her three small children, Kate is awriter, distance runner, Crossfitter and blogger about raising kids with books at www.katesbookery.blogspot.com

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