The Dinosaur Tamer

If you are studying the fifty states like we are, you should check out The Dinosaur Tamer by Carol Greathouse.  This is an action packed book about Rocky, the best dinosaur tamer that ever lived.  Taming dinosaurs was pretty easy work for Rocky until he met T.Rex.  T. Rex was quite the challenge, but Rocky was not the type to give up. 

This adventure crosses many western states and mentions landmarks from the Mississippi River to the Olympic Rain Forest and Mojave Desert. We read this book while studying the state of Utah, so C and R both liked the reference to the Great Salt Lake.

This is one of those fictional books that has an element of geography for young children while also managing to entertain them with a fun story.  There is even a map of dinosaur tracks through the states.

We made our own dinosaur tracks across the western states.

I printed maps of the United States  and put them out with a giant ink pad and a toy dinosaur.  Then as I read the book, I would direct C and R where to place the dinosaur tracks.  They made the tracks by stamping the dinosaur in the ink and then putting it down on the map.

They got a bit carried away, but who cares?!  They had fun and we practiced finding a few states on the map!!

I am linking this to Geography & History at Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn.