Build a... T-rex

This board book aims at an older crowd, and with good reason: the sturdy pages are just right for storing 10 removable cardboard pieces, which readers can assemble to create a model Tyrannosaurus rex. The straightforward (and occasionally grisly) text also reflects a more advanced readership; it opens with a brief prehistoric timeline, followed by details and hypotheses about T. rex, both the good (“T-rex had a bone-crushing bite”) and the bad (“No-one really knows what T-rex’s arms were for”). Ljung’s graphics give the pages a fresh, contemporary look, and bones revealed when the model pieces are removed lend a sense of the dinosaur’s skeletal structure. It’s a nifty, hands-on introduction to a fan favorite dino. Simultaneously available: Build a... Butterfly. Ages 5–8. (May)