The Smallest Stegosaurus

Employing a simple fictional framework, this duo offers a friendly and informative introduction to the dinosaur age. As he awakens with his parents one bright day 150 million years ago, a diminutive Stegosaurus feels ``quite helpless in the big world.'' The young fellow is frightened by the Pterodactyls flying overhead, the Allosaurus that tries to crush him with its giant foot and the Ornitholestes that attempts to steal the egg that the Stegosaurus parents have buried in the sand. When the egg hatches, the ``no-longer-smallest'' Stegosaurus welcomes his baby sister, whom he introduces to a world of ``smoking volcanoes, giant ferns, inland seas, gigantic trees, stars, oceans.'' While making use of soft pastel shades, Sweat's pencil drawings boast an unusual clarity and dimension, depicting the various dinosaur species realistically yet benignly. Ages 2-5. (Feb.)