“This nonfiction poetry offering will satisfy young dino enthusiasts and draw in others who will appreciate the rhythm and rhyme, as well as Nolan’s lovely watercolor illustrations. Make room on the shelf for this original addition to your dinosaur collection.”
School Library Journal, Starred Review
“Viewers get ringside seats as dinosaurs march past in an evolutionary parade, giving way to their modern avian representatives.Nolan crafts a rhymed cadence that is itself an achievement, but pales next to the brightly patterned, hyper-realistically detailed, and, increasingly often, gloriously feathered dinos marching by the dozens in close company across spacious pages. A prehistoric progress that takes flight in more ways than one.”
Kirkus, Starred Review, Best Books for 2019
“Nolan explores how birds evolved from their fearsome—and often feathered—forefathers, through splendid rhyming text that examines both the dinosaurs of old as well as their current incarnations as common birds. The poetic form lends itself to some wonderful tongue-twisting pairings—who would have thought that you could find a satisfying rhyme for Archaeopteryx? The clever writing is accompanied by truly stunning illustrations; the dinosaurs, so often portrayed in dull earth tones, almost burst off these pages in a glorious array of colors rendered in exquisitely detailed paintings, and their avian descendants are given the same spectacular treatment. A brief but beautiful introduction to the concept of evolution in the natural world.”
Booklist, Starred Review
“Nolan beautifully pairs a clever rhyming text with luminous watercolors to express, for very young readers, the evolutionary link between several-million-year-old dinosaurs and modern-day birds. After brief introductory lines, the text transitions into a repetitive rhyme scheme that lists dozens of dinosaurs. Hyper-realistic illustrations depict the creatures as vibrantly colored and often feathered. With the second half of the poem, we shift to a celebration of the beautiful and varied species of birds that evolved from their ancient reptilian ancestors.”
Horn Book
