"Dino ID: Dinoblock by Christopher Franceschelli

I HAVE A NECK LIKE A GOOSE. I AM A COELOPHYSIS.

I AM SMALL LIKE A CHICKEN.

I AM A MICRORAPTOR.

Inside a thick square board book, young readers encounter a four-page gatefold, opening to welcome them inside the Museum, with exhibits divided into three sections, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

The first two-page spread is die-cut into the curving lines of a goose's neck, repeated in the lines of the long-necked colelophysis swimming in a primeval sea. Each successive recto page has a cut shape which suggests the outlines of the next dinosaur on the following double-page spread.

I STRETCH LONGER THAN THE LADDER OF A FIRE TRUCK.

I AM A BRACHIOSAURUS.

Familiar dinos like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and rarer ones like the burrowing Oryctodromeus or the chicken-sized Microraptors fill the sturdy pages with over twenty dinosaurs, concluding with the intimidatingly-named Micropachycephalosaurus! A thumbnail-illustrated dinosaur micro-glossary is appended with descriptions of each dino.

Christopher Franceschelli's Dinoblock (Alphablock) (Abrams Appleseed Books, 2015) is a fine board book for the youngest which teaches both common animals and other objects while introducing a variety of dinosaurs. Suitable for small hands, this book has quite the staying power, with rare dinos with complex names to be mastered by older readers.  As Publishers Weekly points out in their starred review, "Less-common dinosaurs are many, and phonetic pronunciations are provided throughout—helpful when getting acquainted with oryctodromeus, euoplocephalus, and micropachycephalosaurus."

Previous books by Chris Franceschelli are Alphablock and Countablock (Alphablock).