The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

David Burnie (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Come jaw-to-jaw with an amazing array of awe-inspiring prehistoric reptiles and other incredible creatures in this dramatic trek back in time to the dawn of life on our planet and the age of the dinosaurs. Spectacular, full-color illustrations, photographs, and realistic dinosaur reconstructions based on the latest scientific discoveries bring each creature to life. The text combines hard facts about dinosaurs with interesting and intriguing details about their lifestyle and behavior. Species spreads detail the members of specific dinosaur families, giving information about their habitats and behavior, sizes, and the locations of fossil finds, while special subject spreads focus on various aspects of dinosaur life. Packed with dramatic photographs and illustrations, this colorful volume is an indispensable reference for young dinosaur enthusiasts and a captivating resource for the whole family. Special Features: Comprehensive, chronological encyclopedia of dinosaurs through the ages. Timelines give a visual guide to prehistoric periods. Up-to-the-minute research focuses on the latest finds. Includes glossary and general index.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia by David Burnie is comprehensive in scope. Full-color photographs and dramatic drawings illustrate the dense but clearly laid out text while a timeline running across the top of each page plants readers firmly along the continuum. A glossary and index are included along with a list of Web sites for further learning.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10-A chronology of life on Earth from its earliest beginnings in a primordial sea to a brief look at the Tertiary and Quaternary (including a quick flick into human evolution). Divided into broad subjects ("The Age of Ancient Life," "Armored Dinosaurs," etc.), which are again subdivided ("The Burgess Shale," "Triassic animals," etc.), the book focuses on dinosaurs, but provides a broad spectrum of other life-forms and the evolutionary landscapes in which they lived. With a longer and more cohesive text than David Lambert's Dinosaur Encyclopedia (DK, 2001), this volume demands a more concentrated effort to read. However, Burnie's style is quite approachable and should prove no problem to determined dinophiles. A time line across the tops of relevant pages allows easy placement in time of referenced animals. The numerous illustrations are colorful and inviting; color photos are used where possible. Diagrams include such disparate subjects as a stegosaurian nervous system and a cladogram of advanced therapods (the sole mention of cladistics in the book, other than the glossary). Theories on dinosaur endothermia, the cause of mass extinctions, and the course of bird evolution are included. Though a list of Web sites is given, no further readings are suggested, and no bibliographic/source notes are provided. More demanding and more up-to-date than Dougal Dixon's The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals (1988), this new fodder for budding paleontologists will be met with pleased approbation.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kingfisher; 1st edition (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753452871
• ISBN-13: 978-0753452875
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Children's
  • #65 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Veterinary
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia, July 6, 2004

By 

Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia written by David Burnie and illustrated by John Sibbick is a wonderful text with plenty of well captured illustrations along with the text to captivate your imagination about what dinosaurs were like. This text vividly captures you as it attempts to recreate the lives of the different dinosaurs covered in this encyclopedia.

"The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia" is arranged in a chronological order giving copious attention to dinosaur habits and habitats. Also, there is attention to detail about information on how fossil finds can be interpreted as the information is related to the time of the dinosaurs. The writing is easily understandable and children will wonder at the pictutres along with the prose.

I found this book to be up-to-date on a lot of information and is and outstanding guide to dinosaur life and times. There is some comparative anatomy, as the book goes into detail about the Maximum Length, Time, and Fossil finds as to location as to where these animals were found. This makes the book interesting as we see contrast to different types of dinosaurs as to location on the map. Also, the interrealtion of species to one another.

"The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia" is a book that can be used as a reference as well when comparing different dinosaurs to one another. The contents of this book is as follows:

Life in the Distant Past
The Age of Ancient Life
The Age of Reptiles
Plant-Eating Giants
Ornithopods
The Meat Eaters
Giant Meat Eaters
Armored Dinosaurs
Reptiles in the Air
Reptiles in the Sea
The Age of Mammals

There are subcatigories in each of these major chapters and there is adequate detail making for and interesting read. Dinosaurs are a significant part of prehistory. The more we discover about dinosaurs, the more we find out about the world we live in today.

This book rates a solid five stars for imaginative illustration and a text that is easily understood giving the reader a well-rounded view of life's past. You will not be disappointed with this book as it is unbelievably rewarding.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Information but Slightly Outdated, June 28, 2008

By 

neoninfusion (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

Read all my reviews on dinosaur books.

The "Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia" by David Burnie is probably the best for new students, especially with a reading age of 8 to 12 years. The information is accurate and the varied illustrations are of a high quality. However, it doesn't cover the newer discoveries (like the therizonosaurs or dinosaurs with feathers) having been published back in 2001.

Typically, the start of the book designates pages (about 20) to background information. In this case 'Life in the Distant Past' which sets aside two pages on such topics as the beginning of life; Earth's first animals; evolution; fossils: how they form and paeleontology; continental drift; mass extinctions; and time scales. The book then moves into life found from the periods before the Mesozoic (about 30 pages). Dinosaurs take up the bulk of the remainder of the book (110 pages) with flying reptiles, sea reptiles and mammals completing the last 50 pages.

The dinosaur section is divided into dinosaur groups: Plant-eating giants; Ornithopods; Meat eaters; Giant meat-eaters; and Armoured dinosaurs. Each of these sections have a few pages on each of the genus' (eg Megalosaurs and Segnosaurs; Allosaurs; and Tyrannosaurs in the Giant meat-eaters section). Each of these sections provide a paragraph (about 80-100 words) on each species (eg Allosaurus; Carcharodontosaurus; Neovenator; and Giganotosaurus) with a small habitat illustration on most (but not all).

What I like about this book is the balanced viewpoints. Unlike "National Geographic Dinosaur" by Barrett, this book's commentary is much more credible in that it provides both sides of an argument, thus providing information that is accurate instead of dogmatic. The only issue I have is the text is too short. But for a new student, it is just right.

The other point of discussion in dinosaur books are the illustrations. The "Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia" has a lot of illustrations of many kinds: pencil sketches, paintings of individual dinosaurs against a white background, paintings of habitat scenes and photos of fossils. All the illustrations are accurate unlike "Dinosaurus" by Parker and Gee's "A Field Guide to Dinosaurs". Only Raul Martin's illustrations in "National Geographic Dinosaur" are of equal quality.

What I also like about this book is the sketches are often showing relative sizes of species. Without any other point of reference for size (there is no scale anywhere for comparisons) these sketches are really useful.

Another impressive feature of the book are the odd chapters of aspects characteristic to the group. For instance, in

Plant-eating giants the feature is:
'Feeding on Plants' - diet and teeth;
'A Question of Size' - weighing dinosaurs, reaching the top of trees.

Ornithospods:
'Life in a Group' - herd sizes, dinosaur social life;
'Colours and Camouflage' - sex differences, changing colour;
'Sounds' - crests.

Meat-Eaters:
'Moving on Two Legs' - sprinters and plodders, balance;
'Studying Dinosaur Tracks' - gauging speeds, identifying footprints;
'Dinosaur Brains' - nervous systems, relative brain size, learning;
'Parental Care' - incubation, leaving the nest;
'The Origin of Birds' - first feathers, gliding, light for flight.

Giant Meat-Eaters:
'Carnosaurs' - family, limits to growth;
'Were Dinosaurs Warm-Blooded?' - hearts, evidence in bone.

Armoured Dinosaurs:
'Dinosaur Defences' - jaws and claws, whips and clubs, spines and horns, plating;
'Weapons and Ornaments' - sexual selections, locking horns.

Overall, this is a fantastic first book on dinosaurs. The information is reliable and the illustrations very good. It would suit any new student over most other dinosaur books.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very good book, January 3, 2007

By 

D. Komatsu "children's lit lover" (children's lit lover) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

If you have a kid who is crazy for dinosaurs, this is the book for you! Lots of clear pictures where you can really see the animals from head to toe. Although this is by no means a complete dinosaur encyclopedia, there are pronounciations for these impossible words and helpful scales comparing each dinosaur to an adult human.