
I’ve now read all four books in the Inside Out series and if I was a parent I’d be buying the whole set for my kidlets. Between the die-cut models, the photos and illustrations, and the interesting information that makes you feel like you aren’t even learning, I’d have them on hand to read for fun and for use in school projects. And between you and I, I can imagine some pretty mighty die-cut model battles being fought between T. rex, the shark, the skeleton and the mummy in between reads.
This book gives readers an introduction into what scientists know about T. rex based on the fossils that have been discovered so far and based on their knowledge of other animals’ systems, how they figure out what T. rex may have looked like and behaved.

With photos of fossils and plenty of illustrations, we learn about T. rex’s skeletal system and how scientist believe its other systems may have worked, including its cardiopulmonary system, digestive system, reproductive system, nervous system, muscular system and dermal system.
- We may never know why T. rex had such short arms but we know they were too small for them to feed themselves with.
- Scientists believe birds are the closest relatives of dinosaurs so look at how birds’ bodies work to make hypotheses about dinosaurs.
- The T. rex may have had a digestive system similar to an alligator.
Assistance with pronouncing difficult words such as “serrations (ser-RAY-shuns)” are included. My favourite illustration is of a baby dinosaur curled up inside its egg. Aww!
Although we may never know the answers to some of our questions about T. rex this book gives its readers plenty of examples of how scientists work out what the most likely answer is based on current knowledge. Even if questions remain, T. rex will always be the coolest dinosaur!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – becker&mayer! kids for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
The Tyrannosaurus rex has long been hailed as the king of the dinosaurs, but what do scientists really know about this prehistoric creature?
Inside Out: T. Rex offers clues to understanding the most compelling and mysterious dinosaur of them all. Loaded with awesome illustrations and captivating text, a die-cut model within the book’s pages will take you inside T. rex’s body to reveal, layer by layer, how these giant beasts lived more than 65 million years ago.
Each page will bring you deeper into the world of the Tyrannosaurus rex, and show how its specialised anatomy, from its razor-sharp teeth to its massive size, established it as the top of the prehistoric food chain.