Helping Dogs Book

This book lacked something. It seemed dully presented, even though the facts were interesting. Maybe it could have been organized better or differently. I think a large part of my reaction to the book was due to the pictures, which I felt that, nice though they were, lacked dynamism. On some pages the pictures needed have been more detailed, or there should have been sidebars, for additional information, to match or illustrate what was in the text. For example, on page 17 the text mentioned that the fossil belemnite (squid-like animal) that Mary Anning found had fossil ink. I wanted at once to see a picture of that, but there was none. On page 29, the text spoke of how Dr. Edward Cope, an early Victorian paleontologist, mistook the long neck on an elasmosaurus for a tail, and put the head on the wrong end! Again, I wanted to see a picture of his mistake and another of how it looked after the correction, but there was none. On page 18 the text stated that the vertebrae of Shonisaurus was so huge that the miners in Nevada who found their fossils used them as dinner plates. I'd have loved to have seen a picture of that! But again, nothing. In the picture on page 23, there's a dimorphodon (flying reptile) shown but not mentioned in the text or index. Apparently, as far as I can see, it was put there to fill in some blank space.

I'm disappointed with this book, especially since I usually like Caroline Arnold's books. The fault, I think, lies in the illustrations, not in her.