The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
Dr. David Norman
Crescent
Nonfiction, Dinosaurs
*****
DESCRIPTION: A book outlining dinosaurs as we currently understand them, from appearance to speculations on diet, habits and lifestyles. Many illustrations cover their origins and the major classes of Dinosauria and a few non-saurian contemporaries, such as the flying pterosaurs and sea-dwelling reptiles.
REVIEW: I've always had a minor interest in dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric creatures, and this is one of the best books I own on the subject. The illustrations, covering skeletons, muscles and (presumed) external appearances are simply spectacular - almost as useful as Jack Hamm's drawing books. The text is easy to read and informative, even if you're not a trained paleontologist. It's fascinating how little we know about them, and how we've learned what we think we do know. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the subject! (The only drawback is, this was published in the 1980's, and I've been unable to locate an up-to-date dinosaur book that combines Norman's easily- accessible - yet not dumbed-down - writing style with the wonderfully detailed illustrations.)
You might also enjoy:
Jurassic Park (Micheal Crichton, Fiction - An experimental theme park uses preserved DNA to create a living dinosaur zoo)
Bone Wars (Brett Davis, Fiction - The famed Cope/Marsh fossil wars of the 1800's are complicated by futuristic interlopers)
The Lost World (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Fiction - A professor leads an expedition to a remote South American plateau, where prehistoric animals still roam)
The Dinotopia books (James Gurney, YA Fiction - The illustrated journeys of a 19th-century professor and his son, shipwrecked on a lost land where humans and dinosaurs coexist peacefully)
Dinosaurs (Carl Mehling, editor, Nonfiction - Dinosaurs and other prehistoric species, from trilobites to woolly mammoths)
Thunder Lizards! How to Draw Fantastic Dinosaurs (Steve Miller, YA? Art - How to draw dinosaurs)
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Mary Pope Osborne, YA Fiction - Two young kids find a magical tree house that whisks them to the Age of Dinosaurs)
Dinotopia: Hatchling (Midori Snyder, YA Fiction - An apprentice girl at at Dinotopian hatchery runs away in shame after her negligence puts her charges at risk)
Pterosaurs: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Flying Reptiles (Dr. Peter Wellenhoffer, Nonfiction - An overview of pterosaur species)
A Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne, Fiction - A professor and his assistant explore a lost world under the Earth's crust)
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