If you’re looking for a gift that will excite children, Velociraptor, the sixth in a series of dinosaur kits, is a good choice. The kit consists of a box containing a grey plastic egg about 10 x 18 cm, which unscrews to reveal 10 plastic parts of a dinosaur skeleton. An accompanying sheet of instructions explains how to put the dinosaur model together. While the written instructions are a little difficult to follow, the accompanying illustrations and, even better, an accompanying adult, can help kids figure it out. The other side of the instruction sheet features a coloured picture of velociraptors in their natural environment with a sidebar listing factual information about their size, weight, food, location, and special features. The third component of the kit is a very small book about the velociraptor.

The book begins with information on dinosaurs in general and an interesting family tree, explaining the various groups that dinosaurs fall into. The rest of the book is devoted to how velociraptors were discovered by paleontologists, and to describing the physical features that allowed velociraptors to run and capture their prey. The book also points out similarities between velociraptors and present-day birds.

While author Jennifer Glossop explains things in a clear and interesting style, the vocabulary and sentence structure are accessible only to older children (10 to 12-year-olds). Fortunately, the many dinosaur names mentioned in the book, as well as some multisyllabic words like “paleontologist,” are followed by pronunciation keys in brackets.

I found the minuscule size of the book problematic and so did the 11- and 12-year-olds who read it at my school. A larger size would have made the writing easier to read and the illustrations more impressive. In addition, the coloured background of the first two double spreads made the words difficult to read. All in all, however, the children were interested in and enthusiastic about the kit, especially its model component.