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A review by saidtheraina
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley
3.0
Yes, those are [a: Brian Selznick|38120|Brian Selznick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201028714p2/38120.jpg] illustrations.
And I love the way the book is laid out - flipping through it, I love the variety of page layouts, whitespace, and giant dinosaur pix.
But reading it straight through, some of the magic disappears.
I read it looking for books to promote to elementary-aged kids this month, and I don't think this will make the cut.
There's something of seeing behind the curtain about it. I mean, yeah, this guy had a cool task and maybe made a BIG impact on history by bringing dinosaurs to life for the general public.
But if most kids are like I was, I really don't think they'll fully understand the context of that significance.
When I was in college, I did a major project on Abbie Hoffman. I was completely inspired by this guy. He blew me away. I've come to collect all of his books, and consider him one of my heroes. But I got marked down on the project because I was supposed to write about his "significance," and I didn't really get what that meant. It was like he was so significant to me, I couldn't see any further to the wider world.
Tangent, sorry. Suffice it to say, I'm not sure kids will get the ramifications of Waterhouse Hawkins not doing what he did. Besides, I'm not sure I do either, because the whole thing wasn't actually his idea in the first place. So someone else would probably have done what he did if he hadn't been there. Besides maybe the dinner party? Which is one scene, one night, and you get very little detail. I want menus! And guest lists! And reactions! And primary sources!
Yeah, maybe that's my issue here. The real hook isn't explored enough. And everything else is surface level. Maybe there's a reason you haven't heard of this before.
And I love the way the book is laid out - flipping through it, I love the variety of page layouts, whitespace, and giant dinosaur pix.
But reading it straight through, some of the magic disappears.
I read it looking for books to promote to elementary-aged kids this month, and I don't think this will make the cut.
There's something of seeing behind the curtain about it. I mean, yeah, this guy had a cool task and maybe made a BIG impact on history by bringing dinosaurs to life for the general public.
But if most kids are like I was, I really don't think they'll fully understand the context of that significance.
When I was in college, I did a major project on Abbie Hoffman. I was completely inspired by this guy. He blew me away. I've come to collect all of his books, and consider him one of my heroes. But I got marked down on the project because I was supposed to write about his "significance," and I didn't really get what that meant. It was like he was so significant to me, I couldn't see any further to the wider world.
Tangent, sorry. Suffice it to say, I'm not sure kids will get the ramifications of Waterhouse Hawkins not doing what he did. Besides, I'm not sure I do either, because the whole thing wasn't actually his idea in the first place. So someone else would probably have done what he did if he hadn't been there. Besides maybe the dinner party? Which is one scene, one night, and you get very little detail. I want menus! And guest lists! And reactions! And primary sources!
Yeah, maybe that's my issue here. The real hook isn't explored enough. And everything else is surface level. Maybe there's a reason you haven't heard of this before.