A parade of colorful dinosaurs realistically rendered (although the colors are conjecture) and a clever rhyming text star in this breezy look at the creatures’ evolution from historic land beasts to contemporary birds. Along that journey, a long list of specific dinosaur names (with pronunciation), eventually giving way to bird species, offer a surprisingly catchy refrain. “They roamed the land / And in the sand / They left behind their tracks. Apatosaurus (uh-PAT-uh- sore-us), / Stegosaurus (STEH-guh-sore-us), Saurophaganax (sore-uh-FAY-guh- nax).” While the main narrative is short on scientific explanation, a complete index of all species with thumbnail pictures and an evolutionary tree of life paired with a brief explanatory text are included in the closing pages. (Ages 3–7)

Dinosaurs disappeared completely from the Earth many, many years ago...or did they?

An ALA Notable Children's Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year!

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs roamed the shores of Mesozoic seas. They lay eggs in the shade of ginkgo trees, and as time went on, dinosaurs grew, and grew, and grew.

There were so many different species of dinosaurs. Large, monstrous, and fearsome, they ruled the earth. Until gradually, there were no dinosaurs left.

But they didn't disappear completely. Some dinosaurs had feathers, which grew and grew...until all through the skies were hundreds of species of birds, which flew and flew.

From the bestselling creator of Dinosaur Dream Dennis Nolan comes a poetic nonfiction picture book about how dinosaurs evolved into birds.

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit
An ILA-CBC Children's Choice!