A Moment in Time with Albertosaurus

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

This sequel to A Moment in Time with Troodon profiles albertosaurus, a
member of the tyrannosaur family that roamed western North America 70
million years ago. Currie, a paleontologist, and Felber, a geologist,
have based their story on the real bone bed discovered in Alberta that
contained 10 albertosaurus skeletons. To give readers a front-row view
of the natural calamity that simultaneously killed 10 of the most
fearsome carnivores that ever lived, Currie and Felber re-create the
doomed pack’s final steps.

Like most predators, the dinosaurs begin their day hungry. One young
male has a less-than-successful encounter with a herd of armor-plated
herbivores but the others, following the lead of their battle-scarred
leader, find easier pickings when they work as a team and chase down a
swift-footed hadrosaur. Despite their power and experience, however,
death overtakes them in a single sudden disaster.

The strengths and weaknesses of this book are much the same as those in
Volume 1. Felber and Currie are scientists, not writers. The fiction and
nonfiction segments of their books benefit enormously from their expert
knowledge, but their prose is often weak—though definitely less
labored in this volume. Jan Sovak’s illustrations are outstanding and,
overall, young dino-heads will find much to enjoy. Bring on Volume
3—centrosaurus. Recommended.