Picture Book Review: Prehistoric Pets by Dean Lomax, illustrated by Mike Love (2021)

Quick Booktalk 

Filled with facts, this pop-up book introduces the prehistoric ancestors of today's common household pets.

About the Illustrations 

Each page is filled to the edge with colorful digital illustrations and a host of text boxes and other informational blurbs. Each two-page spread talks about a particular animal family and provides drawings of some of the species within that family. The right-hand side of each spread also opens to reveal a pop-up of the prehistoric creature from which these species are descended. The text is really prominent on each page, so the 2-D artwork is mostly background, but the 3-D pop-up images do catch the eye.

Story Time Possibilities

This isn't a story time book because it's just too wordy. Theoretically it would be possible to just read the main bolded text on each page, but the unwieldiness of then having to show the pop-ups to an audience makes it more desirable to simply recommend it as a lap book.

Readers Advisory

This is a book for that kid who wants all the details about everything. There is just so much information packed into every square inch of every page that it's almost overwhelming. I do think the subject matter is fascinating, and I think my first grade daughter who is currently studying the stone age in our homeschool will want to look at it, but I'd be surprised if any child wanted to tackle every word in the book in one sitting. For me, the most interesting piece of each page is the section across the bottom that talks about fossils. I imagine other readers will similarly zone in on the sections that appeal to them most.

Disclosure 

I received a finished copy of Prehistoric Pets from Templar Books in exchange for an honest review.