Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones

by Byron Barton

Introduces the basics of paleontology as a team of scientists search for dinosaur bones, dig them up, take them to the museum, and carefully reassemble them

Genres: Picture Books, Dinosaurs, Storytime, Childrens, Science, Nonfiction, Animals

31 pages, Library Binding

First published September 28, 1990

About the author

Byron Barton is the author and illustrator of many picture books for young children. He has been honored by ALA, SLJ, and Reading Rainbow. He worked as an animator for CBS before he started creating children's books. He is currently making his illustrations completely on the computer.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teaches children that working as a group can help you accomplish a difficult project. This is a nice way of presenting how to work as a team to reach a common goal. Took me back to when I was a boy digging for dinosaur bones in the backyard...I really thought that I was going to find something there - but I never did!

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today's letter at story time was B. I missed a good portion of this one because Natalie was crawling on something or another. What I did hear was a great introduction to paleontologists. Bold illustrations.

[Brendan White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton is a picture book for children ages 2-6. The book is illustrated with bright, primary color pages and drawings of men working to assemble the skeleton of a T-Rex. The pages have only a sentence each; the story being mainly told through the pictures. The tale follows along with the process from beginning to end of digging up the bones of a T-Rex, transporting them back to a museum, and assembling them into a magnificent skeleton.

This was a favorite book of mine when growing up. I enjoyed the simple, bright-colored drawings of the men and trucks as they explored and dug for bones. Additionally, the reassembly of the T-Rex skeleton fascinated me. The bones are so spectacularly huge next to the men. The last page also shows pictures of the different types of dinosaurs which is a bonus to the actual story. There is a lot here that a parent reading the story to a child can focus on: the paleontologists, the teamwork, the museum, the excavation, the dinosaurs themselves, and parts of the body. It is a fun book, but also a book that can be used to teach many subjects. This is a classic, and is rated 5 out of 5 stars for its many uses as well as the exciting illustrations. Reviewed on 8/2/17

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archeology. One of my favorite things. Written in easy to understand children's language.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2 year old LOVES this book and has it partially memorized. The reviewers who think this has no rhythm are nuts. Byron Barton books are all awesome for reading out loud, except maybe for the Easter egg in this one that has you list all the different species of dinosaurs (parasaurolophus=PARE-ah-so-ROH-luh-fus)

[Cara Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story. Nothing super special, but it will be good to read to a kindergarten class when you are trying to teach them about nonfiction. I do love dinosaurs so this is probably something that I will add to my library.

[TrinaLynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, this book was much more of a story time success than I thought it was going to be.
I picked it for the objective and helpful information, but the kids LOVED the illustrations, simple text and to the point story.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was super great. I like it because they found all the bones, digged them up, and put them in the museum.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like what we saw at the Dinosaur Discovery Site http://www.dinotrax.com/ in St. George, UT this weekend. Had fun with the cousins there.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just adore Bryon Barton's books. I have no idea why. So simple and useful. My kids love them too!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Byron Barton for the 2 - 4 set. Simple text, simple pictures. Calum is really enjoying this one. No talking animals here.

[Jaime Ann Sanborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Byron Barton can always be depended on to write books that children will enjoy and relate to, while learning something new.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is I think geared towards toddlers with the simple pictures and lines, but there is no flow or rhythm to the prose. If feels awkward to read aloud.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the language, the illustrations, and use of bright, primary colours! Will be using with my three- and four-year old storytime centered around dinosaurs.

[Pat Fromm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, easy look at dinosaur bones.

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

#Dinosaurs for the young! #YoungReaders #PictureBook #BookReview #ChildrensBooks #amreading

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...here's the thing. This is a simple, easy-to-read book about paleontology which I feel would be perfect for the youngest kiddos and early readers. It flows nicely and has super simple illustrations that greatly appeal to kids. Except...the author randomly decides to throw in this lest of hard-to-pronounce dinosaur names. Because...reasons? Seriously, it makes no sense. It isn't part of the story and the names, except for the Tyrannosaurus, are never mentioned again. This list (which isn't even part of a sentence) puts the book FAR out of the reading ability of most kids...and many adults, too. It destroys the flow of the story and leads to frustration. My advice? If reading aloud, just skip that part. You aren't missing anything except frustration.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Barner used a variety of colors, and rhymes to inform children about dinosaur bones.
Throughout the book, the author identifies 5 different types of dinosaurs. He compares their bones to animals that are currently living.
-This was a fun read, and I really enjoyed the illustrations. My favorite part of the book was that it rhymed! However, I think it could be a little confusing for young readers.

[Kelley Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super simplistic, but I'm introducing the fiction/nonfiction concept to kindergarten and I needed a short book. It would also be a great choice for introducing the AR/RC test taking. I love the illustrations. In another lesson reproducing those simple graphic illustrations would be a great "close reading" exercise.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic I hadn't added! Great for kids who love dinosaurs or who are interested in paleontology. A bunch of scientists dig up bones and put them all together to go into the museum, and it briefly overviews the process (with minimal text on each page) of digging them, packing them, reconstructing them, etc. I like Byron Barton's books for their bright colors.

[Kyle Hamlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun way to view the life of a paleontologist and see what they do for a living. The book shows different kinds of dinosaurs as well as how the skeleton is created. It also has a nice chime to it and a the end helps you pronounce the name of these dinosaurs correctly. this book helps kids view how a skeleton is also mounted and a view of how large the dinosaurs were compared to us.

[Ginelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, simple story with simple illustrations about archaeologists finding, digging up, and assembling a dinosaur skeleton.

This book follows more of a story line than many of Barton’s other books. No it actually seems to explain things a bit more too.

[createitlibrarian (Amanda) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to introduce kiddos to dinosaur names

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book about dinosaurs, their bones, and how they're found.

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 3 out of 5]

With his signature black outlined illustrations, Barton explains the process of a musuem dinosaur display from digging to assembly.

[DeNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it's a kid's book, but a few more details, especially about extraction and transportation, would have been appreciated.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toddler level introduction to archaeology.
Would be a great precursor to a dinosaur bone puzzle.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good book to introduce what archeologists do. nice and simple

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really here, art isn't great either.