Dinosaurs in children’s literature: documentaries or told stories

Title: Marco, the friendly T.rex

Text: Constance-Mai Cyr and Ginette Lareault

Illustrations : Laurence Dechassey

Editions : Caramel

For children from: 3 years

Biography: Marco does not like to hunt animals like other T. rexes. He would rather join a group of herbivorous dinosaurs. But the approach is not easy, because apparently he is a terrifying threat to them. Her exemplary kindness will help her make friends and girls who will accept her difference.

My opinion : This album is part of a collection Carousel which brings together books written by children aged 7 to 12, under the guidance of author and teacher Ginette Lareault. From the height of her 8 years, Constance-Mai writes a beautiful story that makes it possible to understand that kindness is a value.

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Title: Dinomania : an animated journey back to the time of the dinosaurs

Text: Arnaud King

Illustrations : Gwen Keraval

Editions : Milan

For children from: 4 years

Biography: This large documentary book consists of five double pages that, as they unfold, reveal large extinct animals in three dimensions. For each of these categories: super-creatures, hunters – hunters, marine reptiles and flying reptiles, there is a description of individual animals (about thirty in total) as well as a timeline.

My opinion : Preschool girls and boys will stare at these dinosaurs that jump off the page. But be careful: cardboard is not resistant to foxes who forcefully manipulate objects!

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Title: Fred knows all about the extinction of the dinosaurs

Text: Frederick Wolfe

Illustrations : Baptiste Amsallem

Editions : Phone

For children from: 5 years

Biography: What event was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs? Fred researched and debunked eleven of his theories…not very scientific, pretty wacky, and very funny!

My opinion : This album is part of a collection Stories about laughter which, my faith, is aptly named! The text of this fairy tale made me smile several times because it is so imaginative! Amusingly, this album is not a scholarly reference except for the last page. For young people who want to learn more about the extinction of the dinosaurs, I recommend this ballad in connection with the album resulting from the series Listen! conceived and produced La puce à l’oreille. Kids will also enjoy the multiple voices Marc Labreche (funny!) to play the album.

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Title: dinosaurs

Text: Alexis de Gheldere

Illustrations : collective

Editions : Mega

For children from: 7 years

Biography: Ideal reading for discovering legendary animals that lived on Earth, in water and in air. From their birth to their death, going through their family and social life, we get to know the 14 of them more closely and realize that they were champions of adaptation. The text is sprinkled with informative speech bubbles that contribute to learning.

My opinion : La collection Megadoc it is intended for children who are just starting to read with its concise texts, eloquent pictures and airy layout. It always convinces me of the credibility of a scientific-documentary book when it is supervised by an expert. In this case, François Therrien, a paleontologist from Quebec at the Royal Turrell Museum in Alberta, is the one who explains the new findings in simple terms.

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Title: All about dinosaurs

Text: Giuseppe Brillante and Anna Cessa

Illustrations : Roman Garcia Mora

Editions : nozzle

For children from: 8 years

Biography: This documentary, divided into three parts (carnivorous dinosaurs, herbivores and large aquatic reptiles), talks about the biological characteristics of the animal, its behavior and the latest discoveries.

My opinion : There are several books on the subject of dinosaurs. The uniqueness of this book is due to the illustrations that are so realistic that one would believe the photos and the texts that read like a novel (in addition to being informative). The diagram that compares a dinosaur, small or large, to a human is really eloquent, especially in the case of the Argentinosaurus, in front of which I would politely step aside – it is 30 meters long and 20 meters high!

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collection: What’s so good about…?

Text: Nicky Dee

Translation : Olivier Bilodeau

Editions : Quebec America

For children from: 8 years

Biography: This collection of documentary films has ten titles to date. Each depicts a dinosaur that lived in the Mesozoic. They all have the same criteria for describing each dinosaur: the meaning of its scientific name, the time of the Mesozoic when it lived, the time at that time, the circumstances of its discovery, its dimensions compared to those of a mouse, d neck and bus. It represents his movement speed, his intelligence and fearsomeness on comparative scales, as well as several physical characteristics.

My opinion : The author loves these big animals and it shows! His series will satisfy girls and boys who have the same passion. Not being an expert, she enlisted the help of paleontologists, including Dean Lomax, a writer and science communicator. The combination of their talents gives a good result: the books are practical references for discovering details about these prehistoric animals, some of which are less known. I really like the scale that rates the degree of fear that the dinosaur sows around him, as well as the pages that summarize his strengths and weaknesses at a glance.