Have you ever been to a museum to see the dinosaur exhibit? Iguanodon, Apatosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus are all there. Where did these enormous skeletons come from and how did they get inside the museum?

Long ago, dinosaurs were everywhere. No one knows why they suddenly died out. Until a little over a hundred years ago, no one even knew they existed. Then people began finding fossils -- bones and teeth and footprints of dinosaurs that had turned into stone. What finds these were! Everyone clamored to see them.

But dinosaur bones don't walk into museums by themselves. A team of experts has to work together to dig them up and put them together again. Clear, easy-to-read text and exuberant full-color drawings by acclaimed author-illustrator Aliki detail how dinosaur skeletons are dug out of the ground, bone by fragile bone -- and then assembled to look like the dinosaurs of millions of years ago.

ANNOTATION

Briefly introduces various types of dinosaurs, explaining how scientists find, preserve, and reassemble the giant dinosaur skeletons seen in museums.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

How did those enormous dinosaur skeletons get inside the museum?

Long ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Then, suddenly, they died out. For thousands of years, no one knew these giant creatures had ever existed. Then people began finding fossils—bones and teeth and footprints that had turned to stone. Today, teams of experts work together to dig dinosaur fossils out of the ground, bone by fragile bone. Then they put the skeletons together again inside museums, to look just like the dinosaurs of millions of years ago.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

Save old editions when you update primary-grade dinosaur collections with Aliki's revised Fossils Tell Of Long Ago, My Visit To The Dinosaurs, and Digging Up Dinosaurs. Have children compare old to new, discover the changes, and discuss why they think those changes took place.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-- The most notable change in this revision is the pictures: bright crayon-colored drawings have replaced the drab gray and green illustrations of the earlier edition. The hand-lettered captions and the dialogue in balloons have been slightly enlarged, making them easier to read. Textual changes are slight; Brontosaurus is now called Apatosaurus, and some pages have been combined to streamline the book. Although the 1981 edition already depicted both men and women and people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, it's nice to be greeted by a smiling female paleontologist on the cover of the new edition. There's not much new information here, but the packaging is certainly more timely and appealing. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library