Review: Inside Out T. Rex: Explore the World's Most Famous Dinosaur! by Dennis Schatz

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

The Tyrannosaurus rex has long been hailed as the king of the dinosaurs, but what do scientists really know about this prehistoric creature?
Inside Out: T. Rex offers clues to understanding the most compelling and mysterious dinosaur of them all. Loaded with awesome illustrations and captivating text, a die-cut model within the book’s pages will take you inside T. rex’s body to reveal, layer by layer, how these giant beasts lived more than 65 million years ago.
Each page will bring you deeper into the world of the Tyrannosaurus rex, and show how its specialized anatomy, from its razor-sharp teeth to its massive size, established it as the top of the prehistoric food chain.

MY TAKE:
My son loves dinosaurs, and even though the book is better suited for older children, I had a feeling he would like it anyway, and I was right. This is a book that has a long shelf life. You can buy the book for the pictures and the model, while your child is still learning to read, and your child can still read it and use it when he/she is much older.

The book is divided by body systems, and the text on the pages are divided in small paragraphs that are easy to read and finish. There are a lot of great information in these pages, such as why there are certain parts like muscles and organs that aren't fossilized. The book does point out that there are still many things we don't know about the T. rex because no specific fossils or examples (e.g. eggs) from the T. rex have been found. The paragraphs all have headings that are either statements or questions, and for a few of those paragraphs with question headings, the questions are unanswered.

The book is very colorful and is packed with drawings and photographs, but the best part is the model in the middle wherein kids and adults can better visualize and learn about the parts of the T. rex.

MY SON'S REACTION:
My son is still just learning to read and he has a relatively short attention span, so when I read it with him, we mostly browsed through it.

We talked about the pictures and the drawings. I thought he might not like the model, but he actually did. He found it fascinating.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Based on comparisons to today's animals, T. rex probably had a double stomach. 

RATING:

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