Houston Family Booklist - June 2010

Houston Family LogoHCPL's Book Bites column appears monthly in Houston Family Magazine.  Each column features suggested books for toddlers through teens.  Get the new list every month in the magazine, available at all of our branches.  This month's theme is a Dinosaurs and is a tie-in to a Houston Zoo exhibit.  Previous columns.

Toddlers (Ages 1-3)

The Super Hungry Dinosaur 

Martin Waddell. The Super Hungry Dinosaur
Hal and his little dog Billy calmly deal with a dinosaur’s monstrous temper tantrum.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?

Jane Yolen. How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
Mother and child ponder the different ways a dinosaur can say good night, from slamming his tail and pouting to giving a big hug and kiss.

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime

Bob Shea. Dinosaur vs. Bedtime
Nothing can stop little dinosaur, not talking grownups, spaghetti, or even bath time. But, what happens when he faces the biggest challenge of all – bedtime?

Picture Books (Pre K-K)

No T. REx in the Library

Toni Buzzeo. No T. Rex in the Library
A rampaging Tyrannosaurus rex demonstrates to an out-of-control little girl the results of “beastie” behavior in the library.

Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur

Laura Joy Rennert. Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur
This hilarious guide to having a pet dinosaur helps you pick the right dinosaur for you, and shows how to feed him, exercise him, and take him to the vet.

Dinosaurs Love Underpants

Claire Freedman. Dinosaurs Love Underpants
Illustrations and rhyming text reveal that the Mighty Underpants War is the true reason why dinosaurs are extinct.

Early Readers (Grades 1-3)

 Max Spaniel: Dinosaur Hunt

David Catrow. Max Spaniel: Dinosaur Hunt
Daffy hound dog Max Spaniel decides to go on a dinosaur hunt and puts his “fossils” together to make a live dinosaur.

 Dancing Dinos at the Beach

Sally Lucas. Dancing Dinos at the Beach
Dancing dinos pop out of a book, land in the sand and take over the beach by building sand castles, collecting shells, and even waterskiing.

Dinosaur's Day

Ruth Thomson. Dinosaur’s Day
In this book, children follow a day in the life of a Triceratops, as he wanders away from his herd and has an encounter with a deadly Tyrannosaurus rex.

Children's Fiction (Grades 4-6)

 The Enormous Egg

Oliver Butterworth. The Enormous Egg
Twelve-year-old Nate Twitchell is surprised when one of the hens on his family farm lays a giant egg. He is even more surprised when it hatches and out pops a baby triceratops.

 Eyewitness Dinosaur

David Lambert. Eyewitness Dinosaur
The latest dinosaur entry in this popular series explores the world of the dinosaurs, using computer reconstructions to bring fossils to life and reflecting the latest ideas on how the dinosaurs looked and behaved.

 Dinosaurs: My Science Notebook

Martine Podesto. Dinosaurs: My Science Notebook
Professor Brainy provides answers for questions like what might the earth have looked like when dinosaurs lived, which dinosaur had the biggest teeth of all, and which dinosaur got a bad reputation that it didn’t deserve.

Teen Fiction (Ages 12 & Up)

 Raptor

Paul Zindel. Raptor
Zack and his friend Uta have a run-in with the ferocious mother of a raptor hatchling and a herd of dinosaurs in a cave in the dark regions under the mountains.

 Dinomummy

Phillip Lars Manning. Dinomummy: the Life, Death, and Discovery of Dakota, a Dinosaur from Hell Creek
This book tells the true story of finding one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever located, discovered by teen dino hunter Tyler Lyson on his uncle’s South Dakota ranch in 2000.

 The Mystery of Ireta

Anne McCaffrey. The Mystery of Ireta
The technicians sent to the planet Ireta were prepared for a routine mission to catalog flora and fauna and search for new energy sources. When their rescue ship mysteriously disappears, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by giant swamp creatures, deadly predators and terrifying dinosaurs.