The Ultimate Dinosaur Book - Hardcover

Lambert, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156458304X ISBN 13: 9781564583048

Publisher: Dk Pub, 1993

Synopsis

Profiles of specimens from every dinosaur group, illustrated with pictures of models and anatomy, offer the paleontological insights into dinosaur posture and gait, musculature and internal organs, behavior, and the reasons for extinction. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Gone are the days of Holly riding a baby bronto in Land of the Lost and Raquel Welch fending off stop-motion dinosaurs in One Million Years B.C. Whether we're at the movies or in a museum, we want the straight, scientific scoop on dinos--especially if "we" happen to be kids.

Enter the Ultimate Dinosaur Book, a fully illustrated field guide to the Mesozoic. Working with the Natural History Museum in London, publisher Dorling Kindersley has assembled hundreds of color photos, diagrams, and drawings, while enlisting the expert assistance of author David Lambert (winner of both the New York Academy of Sciences Award and the Children's Book Council Award). Beginning with straightforward sections on evolution and dino behavior and physiology (any self-respecting kid should be able to tell a "bird-hipped" dinosaur from a "lizard-hipped" one), the book launches into impressive, illustrated profiles of more than 50 different dinosaurs. From the Theropods to the Marginocephalians, each specimen gets a two-page spread (or more, for the big-name beasties). The profiles will likely teach you a thing or two you didn't know (eight hearts in the Barosaurus?), and a few you did (Stegosauruses regulate heat with their plates, of course), but the book's neatest feature may be its "A to Z of Dinosaurs" in the back: the comprehensive list includes every currently known dinosaur genera, with a pronunciation guide and short description.

With Lambert's precise but friendly text and DK's legendarily clean, evocative graphics, the Ultimate Dinosaur Book is as close as you'll get to a walking tour of the Mesozoic. (And, hey, somebody tell Holly: that was a baby Apatosaurus she was riding.) --Paul Hughes

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6 Up-This prodigious volume is thorough in text and illustration. Following the example of the "Eyewitness" series, the in-depth discussion is matched with excellent-quality full-color photos, diagrams, and illustrations. There are cross-sections of interior organs and bone structures, along with exterior views. Some old-fashioned illustrations are included, with explanations as to how the theories they show have been disproved and updated. The book opens with general information: behavior, anatomy, extinction theories, fossilization and excavation, and how remains are restored. Following that are 55 representative profiles and a dictionary of all known dinosaurs. Similar in scope to the Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals (Macmillan, 1988), Lambert's book is more current. It is not a full prehistoric dictionary, but it does mention non-dinosaurs, such as pterosaurs and plesiosaurs. A superb cache of dinosaur data.
Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dk Pub
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 156458304X
• ISBN 13: 9781564583048
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192