"Flowering plants made more air for dinosaurs to breathe and huge amounts of food for them to eat."This text is set in a larger font and displayed more prominently on the page. This text is accompanied by more detailed informational text, found near the bottom of each page spread and set in a smaller font.
Dinosaurs were accidental farmers that helped plants grow. As they walked, their feet opened the soil, and their droppings fertilized seeds that grew into new plants.Each turn of the page reveals energetic and bold illustrations covering a double-page spread. The first spread, packed with dinosaurs, gives way to a page filled with butterflies and flowers. Each paper collage is filled with bright colors, textures, and fine details, like those found on the butterfly wings.
While simplified for the youngest readers, the text is still highly informative. Here are some things readers will learn.
- Butterflies spread pollen, which helped flowering plants flourish.
- Widespread availability of flowering plants meant more food for herbivores, and likewise, more food for carnivores. (For older students there's a great food chain lesson here!)
- While a catastrophic event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, butterflies and other smaller animals lived.
- Today more than 18,000 types of butterflies are known.
Barner doesn't gloss over the fact that there is still much we don't know about dinosaurs and other animals that lived in prehistoric times, butterflies included. He reminds readers that "As with dinosaurs, no one knows the colors of these ancient creatures." He ends on the enticing notion that "Many plant, butterfly, and dinosaur secrets remain hidden in fossils and rocks waiting to be found, maybe by you." Wouldn't that be amazing?
Dinosaurs ROAR, Butterflies SOAR! is a wonderful blend of art and science. For dinosaur lovers, as well as kids interested in butterflies, this book is a winner. Barner's book will make a great addition to all those units on butterfly life cycles. Introducing a bit of butterfly history will be a wonderful way to round out the study of these amazing creatures. Download the teacher's guide for some additional ideas for using the book in the classroom. Highly recommended.
Author/Illustrator: Bob Barner
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: April, 2009
Pages: 32 pages