Could a Tyrannosaurus Play Table Tennis? by Andrew Plant ages 4-8 32 pages Kane/Miller March 2006 Paperback     Okay, so COULD a Tyrannosaurus play table tennis? Well, the answer is not as important as the question in this big, colorful, splashy book that teaches kids basic spelling and sounds using dinosaurs in some pretty wacky situations. Author Andrew Plant is also a zoologist and dinosaur fanatic, and his wonderfully bold and bodacious illustrations of various dinosaur species are sure to send any prehistoric history buff over the moon. Could a Tyrannosaurus Play Table Tennis? introduces youngsters to all kinds of dinos, with facts along the bottom of the page that tell when they lived, what they ate, and how big they could grow. Kids also get the phonetic spelling of the dino and the meaning of its name. But the most fun is seeing dinosaurs doing everything from playing cricket to dancing to doing the limbo, and kids won’t even realize they are learning to read and recognize sounds as they laugh over Kentrosauruses flying kites and Ouranosauruses singing opera. Or how about a volley-ball playing Velociraptor? What more could you ask for when getting your child interested in reading and learning than a book that makes it so darned fun you forget about the educational value and focus instead on the sheer fun of watching Iguanodons ice skating?     web reviews   Calissa Leigh/2005 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)