DK Great Dinosaur Atlas [Hardcover]

William Lindsay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Picture Atlases

The DK Great Dinosaur Atlas surveys the rich diversity of dinosaur life in prehistoric times. This dramatic, oversized volume features the magnificent artwork of Kenneth Lilly, an internationally renowned natural history artist. The atlas contains more than 350 illustrations of dinosaurs from all over the world in superb close-up detail.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3 Up-A new dust jacket might lead readers to expect new illustrations in this revised edition of Great Dinosaur Atlas (Messner, 1991), but they remain the same on every page. What has changed is the text. There are numerous revisions of dates and the discovery of the Yucat n meteorite (which may have contributed in a major way to the extinction of dinosaurs) is recorded. Updated information on Baryonyx is given, as is revised data on Iguanodon locomotion. Perhaps most important, the reversal of roles for Oviraptor, based on new Gobi finds, is detailed, and the original fossilized eggs found by Roy Chapman Andrews and ascribed to Protoceratops are returned to their proper parentage. While budgets may be strained, and discarding an attractive, popular, heavily used old edition may be (in Dickens's term) a pull, avid dinophiles glom onto every statistic they can memorize, and they deserve accurate, updated data.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This beautifully illustrated, oversize book takes readers on a fascinating around-the-world journey through the dinosaur age. Double-page spreads are vibrant collages of maps, brief overviews, facts, and visuals that effectively introduce such subjects as the history of the shifting continents, archaeological excavations, and dinosaur characteristics. Information is clearly conveyed in the richly colored, incredibly detailed illustrations, which feature a bountiful array of dinosaurs, up close, on maps for context, in fossil and skeleton form, and as they might have looked in their heyday. Lively prose effectively conveys the wealth of information by using comparisons kids can relate to; humor in text and subheads ("What a Frill!") will entertain as well as inform. Distinguished by its wonderful art and accessible, appealing format, this is a welcome addition to the genre, for reference and insatiable dino fans. Shelle Rosenfeld

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789447282
• ISBN-13: 978-0789447289
• Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 10.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,801,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pictorial guide to the prehistoric world, July 3, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

"The Great Dinosaur Atlas" is wonderful book in its mission and accomplishment. An atlas by definition is a book of maps. A specialized atlas, like this one, adds a special subject to those maps.

Crafting their words and illustrations for children, the author/illustrator, Lindsay and Fornari, show dinosaur faces on the first two pages (the book is set up in double-page subjects), with maps indicating their discoveries. "Age of the Dinosaurs," a section of chapter one, explains: "Fossils are a record of the Earth, and every new fossil found may help to fill in our picture of the world of dinosaurs" (7). The date of this atlas is 1991. It is a DK publication, with Dorling Kindersley one of the very best publishers in children's nonfiction, informational books.

The rest of the atlas, then, is a gradual revealing of known information concerning dinosaurs, their archaelogical discoveries, and what those discoveries tell us. As the author says, new finds sometimes change the interpretation of old information.

The atlas shows the earliest earth mass, Pangaea, its shifting divisions into the continents we have today. Knowing that there was one mass easily explains how an identical skeletal remains in South America was also found in Australia, an island continent. What dinosaurs lived during the Jurassic period and the Cretaceous? What did they eat? How did they reproduce? What happened to these unique creatures that became extinct?

That information and those answers fill the rest of the book, with the illustrations just as informative as the information. However, what makes this book stand out is the huge, in-your-face illustrations of the dinosaurs. Most children already know about dinosaurs, but to hold this over-sized book (14" x 11"), and see those large pictures will make the child push the book away a bit from the startle reflex.

I cannot say this is the best book about dinosaurs, but it is a highly recommended book for a children's library because it is an atlas--thus a great lesson book--and a quality one.

Note: Please click on the book title to go to the product page, click on the images and examine the selected illustrations taken from the book.

Second note: At the time of this writing, I had not considered information that might be outdated. Since publication of this review, commentators have suggested I might re-consider. I would have to remove the entire review, losing all comments, to change the star rating. Instead, I am stating here that this fabulous DK Atlas is most likely outdated and that I probably will remove it from circulation in my school library.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to Dinosaurs, May 30, 2000

By 

Edwin K. L. Lo "Aquilinear" (Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DK Great Dinosaur Atlas (Hardcover)

This atlas serves as a lovely introduction to the world of dinosaurs. At just 64 pages, it is very readable with text that is easily understood & yet not patronizing to the beginner. The book tries to be comprehensive in its coverage by first telling us about the formation of the continents & how this explains where dinosaur fossils are found. The dinosaurs found on each of the continents are then covered, and this is interspersed with specific information on the various types of dinosaurs eg the carnosaurs, sauropods, horned dinosaurs etc. All the way, the book is beautifully illustrated with detailed & colorful renditions of the dinosaurs & their skeletons by Giuliano Fornari, who has a list of other dinosaur books to his credit. One gripe is that the book doesn't appear to be up to date. It was originally published in 1991 and although this is listed as the 'First American Revised Edition 1999', recent dicoveries are not mentioned - eg the book lists Ultrasauros as the longest dinosaur, but in 1993, the 130 foot long Argentinosaurus huinculensis was named. Another dinosaur recently described, Sauroposeidon, found in Oklahoma might be even bigger. In addition, Tyrannosaurus rex is mentioned as the largest carnosaur, but I believe that the Giganotosaurus carolinii named in 1995 might be bigger. Still, these are small gripes that do not detract from the fact that this is a great book for budding dinosaur lovers of all ages ( even my 16 month old son pulls the book down to leaf thro its pages daily).