Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Dinosaurs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wanted a big book with lots of pictures of dinosaurs for my 3 1/2 old son. And this is the best one of the lot. This is not a children's book. Unlike the myriad DK encyclopedias that are aimed at children the text of this book seems better suited for older readers....



Older readers and people who cannot read at all. This book has more illustrations of more dinosaurs than any book I have ever seen. It is laid out like an encyclopedia in three sections-- Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Each section then provides a brief entry about each known species--including where it was discovered, who found it, and when-- and, best of all, an illustration of that animal. Something in the range of 400 illustrations of unique dinosaur species.



And the illustrations are fantastic. We don't know what color the dinosaurs were, but I think it is a pretty good bet that they weren't all olive green. And neither the dinosaurs pictured here.



The other thing I really like about this book is that the illustrations represent our current knowledge. My understanding is that paleontologists now believe that many dinosaurs were feathered. Well, the illustrations in this book show many of the dinosaurs in plumage that would make a tropical parrot jealous. And that is a good thing because (1)It is apparently the truth (2)it makes the business of explaining the relationship between dinosaurs and birds to a 3 year old that much easier.



Like I wrote earlier, I don't think that this book is written for children. But no matter. If your son/daughter is really interested in science, you might as well encourage them to read at a higher level as soon as possible. IMO. Ok, I was a dinosaur enthusiast when I was very young... I wish this book was available when I was four or five.



Really, I don't write reviews very often. But, I thought there might be other parents out there that are looking for a good book on the subject. I browsed Amazon looking for a book, before finally heading out to the bookstore to get a better look at the options. This is the one.

And considering that I've been a major dinosaur enthusiast for my entire life, that's saying a lot.

I've only had this book for a day and my head is already spinning by how much attention to detail has been put into it. First of all, the illustrations are phenomenal. They rank among the best that I've ever seen, and also make sure to highlight the major features of each animal. For instance, the illustration for the sauropod Nigersaurus displays the rows of teeth along the jaw, something that is unusual for that particular suborder. The book provides every major detail about each dinosaur species that it covers.

Not only does the book focus on hundreds of specific species of dinosaurs, it also details things such as dinosaur evolution, classification, environment (which is also illustrated well), and the processes of fossilization and recovery.

Not only does it have detailed information for teenagers and adults, kids will love the illustrations. I'm saddened to hear that this book doesn't seem to be in stock in many places (you can get it used here on Amazon), but if you can find it, don't hesitate in picking up this excellent resource while you can!

The full color pictures makes reading and learning very engaging. Content of course is not as lengthly as a traditional textbook.