Big Book of Dinosaurs [Hardcover]

Clizia Gussoni (Author), Luke McDonnell (Illustrator), Illustrated by Robert Walters (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up

Here's an informative guide to the most fascinating prehistoric creatures that ever walked the planet-from the three-horned Triceratops and leaf-eating Ornithopods to egg-stealing Oviraptors and the dreaded Tyranosaurus. These fascinating creatures (and many others) are brought to vivid life by famed dinosaur illustrator Robert Walters, who helped Steven Spielberg design the dinosaurs for the phenomenally realistic film Jurassic Park, and whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Discover, and other national magazines.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Walters is a Paleontological Reconstruction Artist: he draws incredible, accurate pictures of dinosaurs, and other animals from well before our time. He has served as a consultant on Jurassic Park1 through 3. Donald F. Glut is the author of Amazing Dinosaurs and The Dinosaur Dictionary, as well as dozens of other books. He has a special interest in paleontology, and lives in California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Running Press Kids (April 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762407204
• ISBN-13: 978-0762407200
• Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice pictures, imperfect text, August 3, 2001

By 

Vin de Silva (Claremont, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Book of Dinosaurs (Hardcover)

Dinosaur lovers (or their parents) have many books to turn to these days, in a wide range of genres: technical encyclopedias, with carefully drawn skeletons and accurate scientific information; exciting memoirs of digging expeditions; historical accounts of the "Bone Wars"; and illustrated guides for a popular audience.

"The Big Book of Dinosaurs" falls into the last category; the main credit rightly goes to the artist, Bob Walters, whose fine illustrations make this a tempting gift for any young dino-phile of your acquaintance. Like many dino-artists, Walters' style and colour preferences are quite distinct, and I find his renderings rather pleasing.

Sadly, there are some errors in the text that really shouldn't be there: Giganotosaurus comes out as Gigantosaurus, theropods become therapods, to cite two examples. When the prevailing standard for dinosaur books nowadays is meticulous accuracy (no serious palaeontologist would have let those errors slip by), this is genuinely disappointing.

For stunningly illustrated dinosaurs *with* careful, accurate accompanying text, I would turn to "Dinosaurs: the Biggest, Baddest, Strangest, Fastest" by Zimmerman/Olshevsky, to name one outstanding example.

Walters' artwork certainly deserves better; perhaps the next edition?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, super-cool dinos, incredible buy for the price!, September 25, 2004

By 

Charley Parker "Creator of Argon Zark!, the o... (Philadelphia. PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Dinosaurs (Hardcover)

This is the real deal!

Walters is one of only a handful of artists qualified to create scientifically grounded anatomical reconstructions of prehistoric animals. The great thing is that his dino paintings are stunningly detailed, gloriously colored and eye-poppingly cool!

Amazingly, this big, beautuful book of incredible dino art is about half the price of anything comparable.

3.0 out of 5 stars Pictures are nice, but....., March 3, 2006

By 

random reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Dinosaurs (Hardcover)

The Paleoart of Robert Walters I have to say is quite fascinating. His best drawings put in this book, from dinosaurs like maisaura to oviraptor all the way to t-rex. His drawings flow with the art and colors of the dinosaurs. This part I loved. But if you're looking for true 100% clear scientific information, this is the wrong book for you. The text is good for younger readers, but definatley not for the amateur(like me) who already knows alot. Not all the info in Walter's book is scientifically accurate, but then again not all "children's" books might be. Definatley get this book if you love the art though.