It's hard to believe that the flock of pigeons in the park is comprised of dinosaur descendants, but that's the delightful truth. Nolan explores how those little birds evolved from their fearsome and often feathered forefathers, through splendid rhyming text that examines both the dinosaurs of old as well as their current incarnations as common birds. He touches on both general animal behavior and specific names of dinosaurs and birds with incredibly helpful pronunciation guides along the way. The poetic form lends itself to some wonderful tongue-twisting pairings who would have thought that you could find a satisfying rhyme for Archaeopteryx? The clever writing is accompanied by truly stunning illustrations; the dinosaurs, so often portrayed in dull earth tones, almost burst off these pages in a glorious array of colors rendered in exquisitely detailed paintings, and their avian descendants are given the same spectacular treatment. If readers crave more information after the jaunty poetry, back matter includes more basic details about each dinosaur and bird (covering a whopping total of 96 genera), along with a brief but beautiful introduction to the concept of evolution in the natural world. Parents may find themselves with both a budding paleontologist and ornithologist by the time this book is put down.--Emily Graham Copyright 2010 Booklist

Nolan (Sea of Dreams, rev. 9/11) beautifully pairs a clever rhyming text with luminous watercolors to express, for very young readers, the evolutionary link between several-million-year-old dinosaurs and modern-day birds. After brief introductory lines ("The dinosaurs / Lived by the shores / Of Mesozoic seas. // And in the shade / Their eggs were laid / Among the ginkgo trees"), the text transitions into a repetitive rhyme scheme that lists dozens of dinosaurs. For example: "Einiosaurus, / Gryposaurus, / Pentaceratops, // Ankylosaurus, / Rajasaurus, / Protoceratops," all with pronunciation in parentheses. This rhyme pattern flows smoothly and appears fairly simple; however, the work's complexity becomes apparent once readers discover that each dinosaur is placed within the text-and on the page-in relation to its linear position on a timeline (appended), ranging from the first appearance of dinosaurs to their extinction. Hyper-realistic illustrations depict the creatures as vibrantly colored and often feathered. With the second half of the poem, we shift to a celebration of the beautiful and varied species of birds that evolved from their ancient reptilian ancestors. Extensive back matter includes a thumbnail index for every featured dinosaur and bird (along with each creature's name and its pronunciation and translation from Latin; size, geographical location, and time period), a Tree of Life depicting four billion years of life on Earth, and a helpful description of the dinosaurs' evolution from reptiles (with scales) to birds (with feathers). Patrick Gall November/December 2019 p.118(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Viewers get ringside seats as dinosaurs march past in an evolutionary parade, giving way to their modern avian representatives.Nolan crafts a rhymed cadence that is itself an achievement"Ceratosaurus / Allosaurus / Archaeopteryx / Mamenchisaurus / Kentrosaurus / And Caudipteryx"but pales next to the brightly patterned, hyper-realistically detailed, and, increasingly often, gloriously feathered dinos marching by the dozens in close company across spacious pages. Just over halfway through, a flaming asteroid descending in the background signals a sudden change to an equally magnificent, more-contemporary cast whose feathers likewise "grew, and grew, and grew. / Flamingos, Owls, / Guineafowls, / And the Marabou." The portraits are all full-body, rendered (at least roughly) to scale, and with a low or level angle of view that sets them off to fine effect. Dino names throughout are matched to phonetic spellings, and a visual index at the back offers additional quick facts for every marcher. Following the image of a sinuous tree of life being studied by a racially diverse group of human offspring, a final rank of sprightly sauropod hatchlings fondly supervised by a humongous parent finishes off the parade on a homey note.A prehistoric progress that takes flight in more ways than one. (recommended books and museums) (Informational picture book. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.