Scott D. Sampson

I loved this book - the topic, the writing style, and even the surprise I got when reading the introduction that this was written by Dr. Scott from the PBS series Dinosaur Train!
I was especially intrigued with his suggestions for "rewilding" our cities and bringing more nature experience to classroom learning. I was fascinated by the comparison of, for example, Finland classrooms, which offer an epic 15 minutes of outdoor play between classes IN ADDITION to recess. For the most part, he was preaching to the choir - I'm a big advocate of free outdoor play for so many reasons. But it was wonderful to see it presented in a well-written and logical argument.… (altro)

Any dinosaur-loving child will be enthralled with this book. This book caters to the elementary-aged kids who really love dinosaurs but offers them a background about studying dinosaurs.

The book begins with explaining paleontology and fossils and then focuses a bit on various dinosaurs. It ends with explaining how kids can become a paleontologist some day by focusing on science in school, being in nature, and working on your exploring skills. It's a short and brief overview to get your youngest kids excited about how to study dinosaurs. There are great photos that show paleontologists at work and how they piece together the fossils they find and what they do with them.… (altro)

This is a well done, attractive, and interesting book for young readers to learn about dinosaurs and the people who have careers discovering dinosaurs - paleontologists. The author recounts his early interest in fossils and dinosaurs as a young student and goes on to instruct the reader in easy to understand language the ways paleontologists go about finding, digging, and preserving fossils.

Interesting things I found in the book include: 1) You can tell the difference between a fossil and a rock with your tongue. 2) Fossils tend to break up and roll in bits downhill so you follow the residue uphill to find the source. 3) Dinosaurs still exist - they're called birds. 4) Paleontologists dig for fossils of plants, sea life, and mammals.

The book though intended for ages 4-8 could surely be of interest to older students as well giving them a kick-start read for more detailed information in other sources.

I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are my own and freely given.… (altro)