Are Dinosaurs Tasty?

Ok - it's been quite some time since you've been entertained by what my son may or may not be up to.  And I'll get to that in a minute what he's been up to lately in a few short paragraphs.

But first - I need to give credit to where credit is due.  I have a confession to make.  I steal images.  Shamelessly.  From all over the Internet.  There.  Now you know.

I typically like to find a picture on the Internet (Google image search rocks!) that suits the mood of the whatever it is I'm about to post.  

So does Nicholas it would seem...but for different reasons.

From what my son tells me, the Cretoxyrhina was a prehistoric bad ass who chomped his way through the oceans.  The picture you see above was...ahem....pinched....from somewhere on the vast image resource known as the Internet.  This particular one was pilfered from a website where the guy appears to paint pictures of dinosaurs.....I actually don't know what the site is about....like I said I'm an image thief....I move fast - and don't linger for long at the scene of the crime.  But please check out the dude's site....it's actually kind of cool.  Prehistoric World.

Ok - so where was I headed with this posting?  Oh yes....dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs are very important right now it would.  Project worthy one might say (just don't ask if they're tasty!)

Right now there is a project that that has required my input on a nightly basis.  You see....my son has decided that he would like a collection of books about various dinosaurs.  And not just any old dinosaurs....you know....the T Rex and familiar ones like that.  No....my son likes to find the most obscure prehistoric beasts to write about.

Hence the Cretoxyrhina.  I had never heard of that one until a few days ago....when my help was enlisted in finding a good cretoxyrhina image on the Internet.  I don't know how Nicholas discovered this guy....nor do I have any clue how he found the other rather obscure dinosaurs either.  He just does.  To Nicholas - the Internet is a vast resource of things that were pretty much put up there for his express enjoyment.  In a way?  I envy my son....he has access to information so readily, and has mastered it at such a young age - while I on the other hand had to do research for my thesis using the pre-web Internet.

Anyways - a rather large collection of dinosaur books in the works.  He finds the image, pastes it into Word - and then prints it out.  The narrative is always done by hand....he is good with the keyboard, but he prefers his own unique touch when telling the story.  

After much writing - a collection of sheets is handed to me.  

"Here Daddy.  I'm done....you need to staple it together"

And I do....very carefully.  Three staples down the left hand side of the pages. It has to be done just so.  Messing this step up (as I've learned) doesn't always go down well.  The nerve of me in ever thinking that a single staple in the to corner would suffice.  These are books we're making after all....not some cheesy top corner stapled brochure.  Books require spines.

So far, we have created about 4 or 5 of these books.  I finally inquired what it was be planned on doing with his wonderful collection.

"I'm taking them to school.  The kindergarten kids don't know about this stuff - and they need to.  I have to make sure that they understand what dinosaur came from which time period.  This is important information that every boy and girl needs to know.  So I'm going to bring them to school and share them with the little kids [so says the 8 year old kid]."

Makes sense to me.