Ben Kitchin (text) Vicky Fieldhouse (illus.) How Many Dinosaurs Deep?, New Frontier Publishing, Feb 2017, 28pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN: 9781925059731
Combining dinosaurs with water depths in various forms is a clever way to allay a young child’s fears of the depth of the swimming pool. Jim is learning how to swim but is fearful of going from the baby pool to the next sized pool. His mother alleviates his worries by explaining that the pool would only come up to a Stegosaurus’ knee. Jim asks about the depth of other masses of water, for example, the bathtub, the river, and finally, where the deepest water in the world is. A range of information is shared in this fictional story, ending with a page of facts about the dinosaurs from the book. Unfortunately this is headed Everything you need to know about dinosaurs, indicating to readers this is the only information they will need. I suspect young readers will want to find out more. Perhaps a list of further reading, online or hard copy might be appropriate here.
This illustrated book will appeal to young fans of dinosaurs, and may help with their progression in swimming.
Reviewed by Liz Derouet
