Kid Konnection: Ultimate Dino-Pedia

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you a two fun books that are perfect gift ideas for the upcoming holiday season.

Summary: Dinosaurs continue to fascinate kids, and although these amazing creatures roamed the Earth ages ago, new dinosaur discoveries are still being made today! The new edition of the popular Nat Geo Kids Dinopedia includes all the latest species and is the most complete, up-to-date dinosaur reference available. Find favorites, like the fierce T-rex and the gentle Brontosaurus, plus audacious new finds, like the Anzu, Kosmoceratops, and Yi. Every dino profile is colorfully illustrated and features descriptions of when they roamed the Earth, how they lived, what they ate, and more. There are more than 600 dinos featured in all, including 10 profiles of recently discovered dinosaurs and new entries in the Dino Dictionary. Reports from paleontologists present the latest news and insights from the field. -- National Geographic Kids

Booking Son was never really "into" dinosaurs, but I remember one little friend of his that was. I used to go into Booking Son's kindergarten class, and there was one boy (Guiseppe) who liked dinosaurs... and by like, I mean was obsessed! I used to help him with kid writing, and I would actually have to get out my phone and google the names of the dinosaurs that he wanted to include in his writing. This kid was five years old, and I think he was almost an expert on dinosaurs.

Guiseppe is now thirteen years old, and I wonder if he still likes dinosaurs. (I bet he does!) One thing I know for sure is that the five year old Guiseppe would have loved the ULTIMATE DINO-PEDIA: THE MOST COMPLETE DINOSAUR REFERENCE EVER by "Dino" Don Lessem and illustrated by Franco Tempesta! This book is a whopper of a book. It's a beautiful hardcover book, coming in at almost 300 pages; and it is a must-read for kids who are interested in all-things dinosaur.

ULTIMATE DINO-PEDIA is such a fun way to learn about dinosaurs. This reference book includes more than 600 different species of dinosaurs (even the new ones!) There are many you will recognize, and a few more that I guarantee will be new-to-you. There is easy-to-read text describing each type of dinosaur as well as fact bubbles and sidebars to enhance the basic information. All of the details are presented in a very appealing way... which makes learning about these creatures so fun!

This book has so much information that kids would love! Each dinosaur is profiled and includes such interesting data as the size of the dinosaur, what they ate, when they lived, where they lived, and more. There is also some history about how scientists learned about each dinosaur species. There are even some fun (and gross) facts that kids will want to share with others.

Usually at this point in my review, I would take the time to describe just how beautiful the photographs are -- National Geographic Kids books always have gorgeous color photos. However, since the subject matter of this book is animals that no longer roam the earth, there aren't many real pictures. Instead, there are some wonderful full color illustrations. In fact, there are beautiful drawings of every dinosaur described in this book!

One of my favorite things about the ULTIMATE DINO-PEDIA is the Dino Dictionary at the end of the book. This section is a quick and dirty look at every type of dinosaur known to man. The dinosaurs are alphabetically listed and appear in a grid format. Columns for each dinosaur include the meaning of the name, the geological age, where they were found, the size, and even how to pronounce the name. It's a one-stop shop for dinosaur basics!

I think budding paleontologists are going to love the ULTIMATE DINO-PEDIA. Highly recommended for home and school libraries.

Thanks to Media Masters for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!