Karen Carr

"Dinosaur Hunt" by Karen Carr is an informative book about a dinosaur reptile that lived over one hundred and fifteen million years ago. The book follows the life of an Acrocanthosaurus from birth, how it grows and gets stronger, to how it dies and gets defeated by other dinosaurs or from natural earth causes. This book would be great for any students who have interest in dinosaurs. The book also shows how anyone can be an archaeologist by looking for clues and footprints that could have been placed years ago.… (lisätietoja)

Dinosaur Hunt is an excellent bringing readers back in time 115 million years ago to when dinosaurs were alive. This is when humans were not around and dinosaurs dominated the earth. The book describes the different sizes and types of dinosaurs and shows dinosaurs come from an egg and showed one hatching. Readers were able to witness the dinosaur grow and catch bugs to eat, but as she grows, so does her appetite. When she witnesses another dinosaur attacking another for food, she decides to try and do the same. When her plan doesn't work, she learns to attack smaller dinosaurs and prey on them quietly. This is a great book to see how dinosaurs evolved and what their life was like.… (lisätietoja)

By Author and illustrator Karen Carr, the picture book, 'Dinosaur Hunt,' is basically Animal Planet special 115 million years ago in south Texas. It follows the a young Acrocanthosaurus who had just hatched from an egg with no mom to be found. The hungry dino starts eating bugs she can catch But after quickly growing, she finds her appetite is growing just as fast. She sees her own kind, fully grown, attacking dinosaur for food. She tries imitating this by chasing a Deinonychus, whose just a bit bigger than herself. But the carnivore turns around and slashes our Acrocanthosaurus, who runs away. After learning her lesson, she grows up taking down smaller dinosaurs and learns to hunt quietly in the dense forests. Now 12 feet tall, weighing in at 6,000 pounds, she uses her skills gained over the months to take on a lone Pleurocoelus. The experienced hunter wisely attacks it from the rear to its side so to avoid its powerful tail and kicks. After enough slashes and and bites into the long necked herbivore our Acrocanthosaurus has a meal to fill her belly for days. This book was a great way to see the life of a dinosaur as it grows, with great artwork depicting it all. The best part is with actual foot prints still in that spot in south Texas, it is shown to be a true battle; bringing more realism to this dinosaur's hunt!… (lisätietoja)

In a remarkably original work of middle grade fiction, Carr introduces us to the so-called "shadow world", one in which colors are duller, blacker, and eerily luminous, save for those made of one arbitrary substance: plastic. As a twisted version of our own reality, this alternate dimension, if you will, is one whose residents were never intended to cross over into the Chroma (color) world. Unfortunately, Emison's mother did.

This book is one that truly caters to its intended audience, remembering that pre-teens' interests and attention span are not those of adults. It begins by throwing us straight into the action, introducing us to Emison while drawing us immediately into the dilemma of rescuing a mother who has returned whence she came. Like many stories designed for a younger set of readers, adults play a supportive role, while children drive the plot forward. Their behaviors and thought patterns are authentic, and the personalities distinctive enough that I can believe Missy, Adam, and Emi to be actual kids, rather than caricatures of what an adult believes one to be.

Chromatics Attack successfully maintains an adventurous atmosphere throughout. It is a heady mixture of curiosity and urgency, childlike wonder warring against a more grown-up sense of responsibility. The result is a lighthearted, entertaining read that is just complex enough to stay interesting but straightforward enough to avoid overwhelming younger readers. It's a difficult balance, but Carr found it.

My only true criticism of this novel is the typographical errors that grew more plentiful as the book wore on. A missing "s" originally made me believe that Adam was adopted from China, which became confusing when his hair was light while Missy's was dark. Then there were a few instances of you're/your, and a sentence or two where an entire word seemed to be missing. These mistakes don't detract too much from the wonderful story, but they are still bothersome.

Chromatics Attack is a fun read that parents can feel comfortable having in their children's hands. The lack of a print copy could limit access, but as the prevalence of e-readers grows, this will hopefully become a moot point.

Stimulated Outlet Book Reviews
(Review copy provided by the author)… (lisätietoja)