When Dinosaurs Roamed Australia

Millions of years before you and me,
living in wetlands and by the sea,
lurking in lakes and green forest floors,
Australia was home to DINOSAURS!

Let’s meet the Australian dinosaurs who freely roamed the land so very long ago.

Each turn of the page introduces us to new dinosaurs. We have lots of fun saying their names, from one of the the giants, Wintonotitan Watts, to the armoured plant-eaters like Minmi Paravertebra. We dive into the oceans to meet those that live undersea and then up into the sky to one of the flying lizards who hunts from above. After their names we learn how to say it, like one of the quickest dinosaurs by the billabong, Australovenator Wintonensis (Oss-trah-low-ven-ah-tore Win-ton-enniss), or the smallest dinosaurs such as Leaellynasaura Amicagraphica (Lee-el-in-a-sor Am-ick-ah-graf-ick-ah) with their big sparkly eyes and long fluffy tails.

The rhyming text is engaging and there is lots of fun to be had learning to say the dinosaur’s names together, From the towering titans to the boney-nosed dinosaurs with powerful bites, the small amounts of text and bright colourful illustrations filling each spread of pages entice us along. This is a terrific book to introduce very young readers to the variety of Australian dinosaurs that once lived in the land down under.

Reviewed by Emily Ross