The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley

Kerley, Barbara. (2001).The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins. New York: Scholastic Press.

Lexile: AD550 (3rd grade)

Author credibility: Barbara Kerley in the Author’s Note explains that the content of the book came from newspaper articles and the writings of Waterhouse himself. This book has won such awards as Notable Children’s book and the Caldecott honor book in 2002.

Summary: From the very beginning of the book Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins invites you into his story and to see his fabulous creations. The endpages of the book contain an invition and then Mr. Hawkins opens the curtain to reveal his spectacular dinosaurs, as well as the title of the book. The story begins by introducing the beginning of his career in London. He flashes back to his childhood and how he developed a passion for art and animals. This then flows into the work he is doing. Kerley tells how Waterhouse Hawkins and Richard Owen work together to create the public’s first view of a dinosaur. Finally, after much work Hawkins reveals his art to England’s leading scientists. To do this he arranged a spectacular dinner party that took place inside of one of the dinosaurs. His work in England was a huge success. They were housed at the Crystal Palace were many people came to see them.
The next stage in his life takes place in America, were he built the first dinosaur skeleton. Then he meets “Boss.” “Boss” stalled and eventually demolished the two years of work Waterhouse did in America. Despite this Waterhouse Hawkins continued to work in America painting the development of life on earth.
The finally stage of Mr. Hawkins life begins with him returning home. Skeletons found showed that some of Mr. Hawkins work was innacurate. The book ends with a transition into our time. It shows how important his work was because it gave people their first look at dinosaurs.

Standards: Science
*Life Science
*Earth and Space Science
*History and Nature of Science

Illustrations:
Brian Selznick provides this book with wonderful drawings to illustrate this book. Many of these drawings are based on the original drawings of Waterhouse Hawkins himself. These drawings were found in a scrapbook many years after the death of Waterhouse Hawkins. Selznick traveled to England to see and study the dinosaurs that Waterhouse created. A goose from the park that made an impact on him is even included in the book. The endpages contain a replica of the invitation Waterhouse sent out for the grand appearance of his creations.

Access Features:
*Author’s and Illustrator’s Notes
*Flow diagram

How I would use the book in the classroom:
* I think this book would be a great introduction to a unit on dinosaurs. It envokes excitement for the reader, and that is one of the most important things in an anticipatory set.
* I also think this book would be good to use in a litature group. It would provide the students an exciting story which they can get into a talk about.

My response to the book:
I really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations really drew me into the story and got me excited about what was going on. From the very front cover the author invites you into an exciting world. I also liked how when the mood of the story changed so did the illustrations. They became gloomy, and fit the mood so well. So much thought and work went into this book and it made it a pleasant reading experience for me. I would like to get this book for my collection.
I was also impressed with how in the author’s notes the author cleared up any questions the reader may still have after reading the book.