Finding Out About Dinosaurs

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.

Science Explorers is an engaging series that explains how scientists
unravel the secrets of the world around us. This latest volume in the
series investigates how people can know so much about dinosaurs even
though the last of these animals disappeared eons before the first human
appeared.

The book is divided into six chapters: “Dinosaur Discovery,”
“Dinosaur Traces,” “Dinosaur Families,” “Dinosaur World,”
“Dinosaur Views,” and “Dinosaur Research Tomorrow.” The chapters
consist of sections that make the text easier to absorb in smaller
bites. Each section is built around a question, such as “How do we
know what we know about creatures that died millions of years ago?,”
“What do fossilized bones tell us?,” and “Is that dinosaur
‘poop’?” Profiles that provide quick facts about five major
dinosaurs or groups are included.

Although the content is tight and scientific in tone, the format has
the relaxed appearance of a personal journal. Photographs and charts
appear on the pages at off-angles as if they were glued there by someone
working on a field dig. Most of the photos show scientists excavating
fossils or setting up displays in a museum.

Finding Out About Dinosaurs is a terrific book that will be especially
enjoyed by any young dinosaur fan who wants to know how scientists
actually work. Highly recommended.