A review of the little book of dinosaurs

An ideal stocking stuffer for young dinosaur fans this Christmas is the pocket-sized “Little Book of Dinosaurs,” packed with facts and figures about some of the most fascinating creatures that lived in prehistoric times. Without much ado, this little book launches right into descriptions with well-crafted illustrations of various dinosaurs.

The writers have created sixty-four pages that are packed with information about Dinosauria. The content is divided into twenty-nine sections describing these prehistoric creatures, and the last section, number thirty, is devoted to a quick quiz to see if the young paleontologists the book is aimed at have absorbed the information it contains. Quiz answers are provided, which will be a great relief to parents, grandparents, and guardians who will have the task of helping their children read the text.

Sixty Featured Prehistoric Animals

With information on something like sixty different types of prehistoric animals that make up the Dinosaurian Order, this is a book packed with statistics and details. The Little Book of Dinosaurs has been designed to help young children with their reading. The text is large and there are many bold sections to help children develop their reading skills. Most dinosaurs are described on a single page, although some animals are given a double page. With short tidbits of information under headings like “Dreadful Tyrants,” “Big Brains,” and “Thumb Dagger,” there’s plenty to appeal to young fans of these extinct reptiles.

colorful illustrations

There are color illustrations throughout, though the lack of feathered dinosaur imagery makes some of the interpretations of dinosaurs like troodontids and psittacosaurs seem a bit dated. This book allows young readers to delve into the fascinating world of these Mesozoic animals and certainly covers a wide variety of dinosaurs, from the turkey-sized velociraptors to the mighty tyrannosaurs like tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus.

Hunt in explored pack

One particularly well-written section deals with the concept of some small predatory dinosaurs, such as dromaeosaurs, living in small herds and adopting pack-hunting behavior. Using the American dinosaur Deinonychus (D. antirrhopus), as an example, the authors speculate on how this type of predatory dinosaur hunted. Under the heading “Hard Hunters” it is described how this dinosaur may have attacked its prey and this section is illustrated with a series of black and white drawings showing how Deinonychus may have hunted the herbivorous Tenontosaurus.

With the likes of Parasaurolophus, Centrosaurus, Allosaurus, and large sauropods like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus included, this pocket guide to dinosaurs is an ideal Christmas gift for young dinosaur fans.