Dinosaur Babies introduces younger readers to the ways that Mesozoic dinosaurs may have reproduced. As a pop-up book published by National Geographic, it is highly amusing and reasonably informative. The pop-ups are very well-done, and turn the images into remarkable 3-dimensional presentations and dioramas that fill each two-page spread.

For example, upon opening the first page, the reader is faced with a baby Protoceratops bursting from its shell (and protruding from the page), against a backdrop of adults laying eggs. The next page shows a nest of young Maiasaura stretching their necks to be fed by their (relatively) gigantic mother. (Skeptical readers can be assured that there is indirect evidence for such parental behavior, in that fossils exist of young nestlings with worn teeth, indicating that they were fed before leaving the nest). In some of the scenes, the book does go beyond the evidence. For example, in one scene, an Albertosaurus gives a warning call that makes the young scatter in the underbrush; and in another, two half-grown Deinonychus play tug-of-war with leftovers from a large meal. Meanwhile, two 1000-pound Pleurocooelus "cool off" by swimming in a shallow lagoon; and in the final diorama, dozens of Styracosaurus form a circle around their young to protect them from a predaceous meat-eater. Most of the dioramas/ presentations have various small movable elements built in around the pages, which the reader can operate by means of pull-able tabs.

This book is highly recommended for younger readers as a way of helping them better understand these remarkable animals. ( )