In the Past by David Elliott {Poetry Friday}

I spent this past school year collecting books about dinosaurs.  When I met my readers last year I had two avid dinosaur book readers with not one single book in my huge collection.  Dinosaurs had been an interest in my early days and over time they weren't looked at I weeded them out.  I was so glad to learn there's a new interest from readers and then to discover authors and publishers are recognizing this new need.

In the Past by David Elliott and illustrated by Matthew Trueman is beautiful and part of the nonfiction poetry collection in my room.  I do not know much about dinosaurs and found this book to be a perfect amount of information and didn't make me feel overwhelmed.  Each poem is about one type of dinosaur and describes things about their physical traits, behaviors, and/or habitats.  The dinosaurs shared are also organized in a timeline starting at the Cambrian Period to the Quaternary Period.  

As a non dinosaur reader, I found the illustrations so supportive and needed for my own comprehension.  There's a note saying the illustrations were done in mixed media and I wish there was more.  The monotone shades used really make the book flow nicely.  

The book ends with a note from the author that is just lovely.  I enjoyed his honesty in admitting at the time of publications his facts and information is current and that our information about these creatures is constantly evolving.  The book does conclude with a blip about each dinosaur mentioned with your traditional nonfiction fact format.

I shared this book with a rising third grader during a softball game a couple of weeks ago and he loved it!  He knew he liked to read about dinosaurs and really enjoyed the poetry format.

Thank you Carol at Carol's Corners for hosting Poetry Friday this week.  

It feels good to be back sharing poetry and blogging again.