Dinosaur Tales [Paperback]

Ray Bradbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1983

Four short stories and two poems featuring one of the author's great loves: dinosaurs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm); 1st edition (June 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553014846
• ISBN-13: 978-0553014846
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,019,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ray Bradbury has published some 500 short stories, novels, plays and poems since his first story appeared in Weird Tales when he was twenty years old. Among his many famous works are 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Illustrated Man' and 'The Martian Chronicles'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dinosaur Tales by Ray Bradbury, August 4, 2009

By 

DONALD H MARK "DustyTomes" (Portland, Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinosaur Tales (Hardcover)

From Barnes & Noble
In his introduction to this collection of tales, one of the greatest fantasy writers of our time identifies dinosaurs as the inspiration for his chosen career. Here are all of Bradbury's dinosaur stories, old and new, under one volume. Includes: * "A Sound of Thunder"--The classic time-travel story of five men who take a trip back in time to hunt a dinosaur and end up changing the past. * "The Fog Horn"--The atmospheric tale of a prehistoric creature from the deep and its strange rendezvous with a lighthouse. * "Besides a Dinosaur, Whatta Ya Wanna Be When You Grow Up?"--A fabulous fantasy in which a lonely boy harbors a longing to become a Tyrannosaurus rex. Plus, a new Ray Bradbury-Gahan Wilson collaboration; an ode to dancing dinosaurs; more. B&W illustrations by William Sout, Steranko, Moebius, Overton Loyd, Kenneth Smith, and David Wiesner.

From the Publisher
Dinosaur Tales is a Magnificent Collection of Famous Tales by RAY BRADBURY, One of America's Best-Loved and Best-Selling Authors. In This Elegantly Designed and Illustrated Book, Bradbury Presents All of His Dinosaur Stories in One Volume!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection, March 8, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinosaur Tales (Paperback)

This might be a good way to deal with a little kid's "dinosaur phase." It's a short collection of Ray Bradbury stories and poems, and this edition is illustrated with six different artists' work and Bradbury's foreword from the eighties.

"Besides a Dinosaur, Whatta Ya Wanna Be When You Grow Up?" features a young boy who wants to be a dinosaur when he grows up -- with bizarre results. "A Sound of Thunder" follows a time-travel safari that goes horribly wrong. The eerie "Fog Horn" calls a strange, ancient creature. "Tyrannosaurus Rex" is involved in filmmaking, and the two poems "Lo, the Dear Daft Dinosaurs!" and "What If I Said, The Dinosaur's Not Dead" add a note of whimsy to it.

As with all Bradbury story collections, this is a pretty unusual bunch of stories -- there's humor, there's horror (the second story in particular) and dwelling on children in the Midwest with that odd knack he seems to have. The writing is spare and hard-hitting, and the publisher, ibooks, adds to the entertainment with illustrations. The cover art is the best, very bright and colorful. Inside the text of the stories is often lined with smaller pictures and patterns; the illustrations can be weird and funny, or realistic and almost frightening. The only letdown was Moebius's rather childlike illustrations.

If you have a kid who's obsessed by dinosaurs, or ever were one yourself (fess up! Everyone does it!) then this will be a good collection of dinosaur stories to share. And even if you already have this book in another edition, you may want to get it just for the illustrations.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the Best Sci-Fi Ever Written, May 22, 2003

By 

Stephen Holland (Greenbelt, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinosaur Tales (Paperback)

Ray Bradbury is one of the masters of science fiction. His stories were literate, imaginative, and have left a lasting mark on American culture. "Dinosaur Tales" is a collection of several of Bradbury's short stories and poems about dinosaurs with illustrations by Moebius. The stories and illustrations evoke a sense of wonder. It was nice to see dinosaurs drawn in a mythic way. This helped to give the stories a timeless feel. This is a collection of poems and stories about people and their themes remain as strong today as when they were originally written.