Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast: Dinosaur Poems

by Jack Prelutsky and Arnold Lobel

Book Overview

In an intriguing combination of fact with rollicking rhyme schemes and full-page portraits, the dinosaurs are rejuvenated once again to amuse and amaze their devoted fans....These poems are readable,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688064426
• ISBN13: 9780688064426
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Length: 31 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Excellent and long lasting!

My sons (16 and 18) enjoyed this as children. It helped them learn cadence and language. The word choice helped improve their vocabulary (how many 4 year olds know what vacuous means?) and the subject of dinosaurs captured their attention. But more, they loved it enough that it is a childhood book that was never given away, and now that they have younger cousins, and second and third cousins, etc. they thought to buy this for them and have read to them with the joy of sharing and introducing the smaller children to a well-loved old friend.

A fun book for young children who love dinosaurs

My son, now 12, used to love this book when he was 3 and 4 years old. It was also a lot of fun to read for me!

Prelutsky is wonderful for kids and adults.

Several years after reading this book, I can still recall by heart many of Prelutsky's clever rhymes and catchy rhythms. The amazing thing is: so can my kids! The favorite dinosaurs such as T-Rex are given their poetic due, but so are lesser known dinosaurs such as leptoterigius and quetzelcoatlus. (sp?) Although I love all of Prelutsky's whimsical poetry, I felt this book was better suited for young listeners than such works as "It's Snowing! It's Snowing". (Perhaps because the subject matter is more familiar to the pre-school set) Some parents may not like the occasional graphic imagery, but lets face it: carniverous dinosaurs were not dainty eaters! The poetry is too lyrical to be truly gruesome, and besides, all kids like to be grossed out a little bit. If your child is at all into dinosaurs, this may be a good addition to your home library.

Very good way of teaching youngsters about dinosaurs.

I read this book for the simple reason of having an interest in dinosaurs. I had never seen dinosaur poetry before and was quite amazed at how the author wrote at a child's level to know more about dinosaurs. I think that if a child has interest in dinosaurs, this book is a fun way to go about learning. It not only teaches them about dinosaurs and the way they lived, what they ate, etc., but also about poetry at the same time. This was a dinoriffic book! I recommend it to everyone with an interest in dinosaurs. :)