cover image Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones

Byron Barton. HarperFestival, $17.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-690-04825-4

Once again, the author of Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs ; Trucks ; Boats and other picture books proves himself a master of simplicity. Here, a spare, rhythmic text (``Bones. Bones. We look for bones.'') and vibrant, childlike pictures focus on six young paleontologists at work. They diligently dig up the dinosaur bones, wrap and pack them, load them on trucks and bring them to the natural history museum. There the bones are dusted off, and the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex is reassembled, bone by bone. Finally, the painstaking job is completed, and the six workers set out in search of more bones. Barton makes a complex procedure easily comprehensible to the very youngest readers--and listeners. Children who have looked at dinosaur skeletons in museums and asked ``How did it get here?'' now have a concise, entertaining answer. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)