My Visit to the Dinosaurs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science)

Aliki

ISBN 10: 0690044232 ISBN 13: 9780690044232

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1985

Synopsis

Dinosaurs are extinct now, but you can visit dinosaur skeletons in a museum. There you will meet Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Diplodocus and learn how they ruled the earth millions of years ago. You'll see dinosaurs with over 1,000 teeth, dinosaurs who could swim, meat-eaters and plant-eaters. And, of course, you'll meet the king of all dinosaurs, the gigantic Tyrannosaurus rex.

About this title

About the Author

Aliki grew up in Philadelphia in a very Greek family. Her talent for drawing, first recognized by her kindergarten teacher, was encouraged by her parents and other teachers she will never forget.

After graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art, she started a career in advertising art. She married Franz Brandenberg and lived in Switzerland for three years, where she wrote and illustrated her first book, The Story of William Tell.

After they moved to New York, she wrote My Five Senses, the book that changed her career and her life. Besides her own books, Aliki has illustrated many by other authors, including Franz. Their children, Jason and Alexa, who have artistic careers of their own, appear in many of Aliki's books as cats, mice, or themselves.

Aliki loves music, theater, films, museums, reading, and digging in her garden in London, where she lives. She travels frequently to the United States, Greece, Switzerland, and other countries, many of which are reflected in her books.

NOTES FROM ALIKI

0nce, when I was reading one of my books to Jason, who was just learning words, I asked him, "What is my name?" He said, "Byaliki." I laughed. But in many ways I am a bi-Aliki. Greek and American. Bilingual. Author and illustrator. Writer of fiction and nonfiction-books that come from inside out (feeling books), and outside in (research books).

I had no thought of becoming a writer until it happened. But early on, I developed a lifelong habit of writing down my feelings. I realized it helped me understand my hurt, anger, bewilderment, or happiness. Words flowed out into poetry, letters, and journals. It was practice for later on.

I wrote The Two of Them when my father died. I wrote We Are Best Friends when we moved from New York to London. I wrote about my childhood seaside vacations in Those Summers. In fact, it was on one such family vacation that I was born unexpectedly (in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey -- but we never lived there)!

Marianthe's Story, two books in one volume, is very much my own. In one of its two parts -- Painted Words -- Mari is lucky to have such an understanding teacher and the ability to express herself through pictures (as was 1). In Spoken Memories, the villagers are composites of family and friends, and the voice is often my grandmother's. She cared passionately about education and passed it on to us.

All by Myself! -- snapped after watching my nephew Peter, who was just learning to dress himself. We can take nothing for granted. All skills -- from the simplest to the most complicated -- are learned. They take patience, perseverance, and determination. With some, a little talent helps. Life is one big challenge. I'm still trying to learn to swim.

My research books come from a fascination with a subject I know only a glimmer about. It can take three years to read, delve, dig, write, and repeat the process for the illustrations. It can be torture, because Virgos don't like to make mistakes.

To write My Visit to the Aquarium, I visited eleven aquariums -- the most fun research ever. But then I had to get the right fish into the right tank. My Visit to the Zoo was even harder. Nine zoos, hundreds of books, magazines, and related matter. And with all due respect to the author, the illustrator has twice the work. I call it hard fun.

All books -- read or made -- change lives. None more than William Shakespeare & the Globe. I was challenged by wanting to compress 40.0 years into 38 pages, to tell (in words and pictures) a story that comes full circle. It didn't help that we know very little about Shakespeare the man. But I was enveloped by his words -- which brought him to life. When I finally finished, the pain of loss -- which lasted months -- was like parting from a beloved friend.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2 Like the original edition, this book introduces young children to dinosaurs through a visit to a natural history museum. The simple text explains how paleontologists discovered dinosaur bones and reconstructed the reptiles' skeletons from their fossilized remains. Also included are brief descriptions of the more well-known dinosaurs, accompanied by full-color illustrations of the creatures as they once appeared. The text of this edition varies little from that of the earlier book. It's the new illustrations that make this revision worth purchasing; Aliki's clear, full-color pictures provide just enough detail to maintain young children's interest without confusing them. Similar in content to Parish's Dinosaur Time (Harper, 1974) and Milton's Dinosaur Days (Random, 1985), Aliki's book is slanted more toward a young listening audience rather than beginning readers. Along with Aliki's Digging Up Dinosaurs (1981) and Fossils Tell of Long Ago (1972, both Crowell), this book gives preschoolers an excellent introduction to paleontology and to the giant reptiles of long ago. Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0690044232
• ISBN 13: 9780690044232
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Aliki