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Dinosaurs
Introduces, in text and illustrations, the characteristics, habits, and natural environment of dinosaurs.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
Michael J. Benton
91 books91 followersMichael J. Benton FRS is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol. He is particularly interested in early reptiles, Triassic dinosaurs, and macroevolution, and has published over 50 books and 300 scientific articles. He leads one of the most successful palaeontology research groups at the University of Bristol, and has supervised over 60 PhD students.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2023
Very informative for a introductory read to Dinosaurs. 🦕 🦖
August 5, 2021
This was one of my very first books ever! As a 5-year old I was absolutely obsessed with this. Found it again after many years and I still have so many good memories associated with it. Super informative yet fun.
Read
April 26, 2022this is my first book ever i'm super emotional ok
September 8, 2024
Disappointing ( www.amazon.com/review/R22TDN8NHQBXK4/... ): 2/5
Short version: If you want the best summary of the geologic history & evolution of dinos for kids, get Bakker's "The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs". Benton's "Dinosaurs: Living Monsters of the Past" (henceforth Past) looks good, but has no heart.
Long version: Read on.
Benton & Brusatte are consistently good sources for the specialist (E.g. See Brusatte's "Dinosaur Paleobiology"). However, they're also consistently not-so-good sources for casual readers/the enthusiast. I originally thought that Past was going to be the exception, mostly because of the beautiful paleoart (which is mostly that of Sibbick & Krb). Boy, was I wrong about Past!* Not only is Past as bad as expected overall, but worse in some ways. In this review, I list the 2 main reasons why I think Past is that bad.
1) As expected, the text is hit-&-miss in terms of getting the facts straight. What wasn't expected was the high number & degree of misses in the text. That of Chapter 3 is some of the worst: On page 28, it's claimed that Huayangosaurus was "found in the 1970s" (More like 1982), that Kentrosaurus was "only 2.5 metres[...]long" (More like 5 m long), & that "the snout[...of Huayangosaurus...]is long" (It isn't); It's also worth mentioning that, on page 29, Benton misidentifies Kentrosaurus as Dacentrurus & vice versa despite having correctly identified Kentrosaurus on page 28.
2) As expected, the writing is annoyingly repetitive (E.g. Ornithopod chewing is described over & over again) & inconsistent (E.g. Chapter 2 begins with climate, flora, & fauna; Chapter 3 begins with climate & flora; Chapter 4 begins with climate & fauna; Chapter 5 begins with none). What wasn't expected was the plain toast-dryness of the writing. That of Chapter 1 (See the Benton quote) is some of the worst: On page 4, Benton takes 2 major theories of geology & biology (I.e. Radioactive decay & evolution, respectively) & makes them boring & meaningless (I.e. He defines them as "change, over time" & "change through time", respectively); That's when I realized that I was wrong about Past.
To sum up, Bakker put it best when he said, "We dino-scientists have a great responsibility: our subject matter attracts kids better than any other, except rocket-science" ( https://web.archive.org/web/201504170... ). Past doesn't fulfill said responsibility.
*If you get the reference, give yourself a pat on the back.
Quoting Benton: "Dinosaurs lived on Earth long ago, during the Mesozoic Era, which is often known as the “Age of the Dinosaurs”. The dinosaurs lived for 160 million years, eventually dying out 65 million years ago, long before the origin of humans 5 million years ago.
These vast amounts of time, measured in millions of years, have been based upon studies of rocks by geologists. Long ago, geologists realised that the Earth was very ancient, and that vast thicknesses of rocks have been deposited, with the oldest layers generally at the bottom of the pile. Exact ages of the rocks are found out by studies of rocks that have natural radioactivity. Radioactive elements are not stable, and they decay, or change, over time into other elements. The rates of decay are known, and it is possible to estimate the exact age of a rock sample by comparing the amount of a radioactive element left and the amount of the end product.
Fossils are also used in dating, and they can give quick and accurate age estimates, but not in millions of years. Fossils are the remains of once-living plants and animals which have been preserved in the rock. There is a very rich fossil record in the rocks, thousands of species having been preserved through the past 3,500 million years. The fossils give evidence for change through time, or evolution. Different groups come and go at specific times, and rocks of any particular age may contain specific fossils that are never found in rocks of any other age.
Fossil evidence, and exact age dating, form the basis of the geological time scale, an international standard. Time is divided into Eons, Eras, and Periods, and these may be further divided up into smaller units. This is a useful reference for geologists in all countries, and it is the time scale that is used to calibrate the evolution of life. The dinosaurs arose in the Late Triassic Period, ruled the Earth during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, and died out at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary."
Short version: If you want the best summary of the geologic history & evolution of dinos for kids, get Bakker's "The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs". Benton's "Dinosaurs: Living Monsters of the Past" (henceforth Past) looks good, but has no heart.
Long version: Read on.
Benton & Brusatte are consistently good sources for the specialist (E.g. See Brusatte's "Dinosaur Paleobiology"). However, they're also consistently not-so-good sources for casual readers/the enthusiast. I originally thought that Past was going to be the exception, mostly because of the beautiful paleoart (which is mostly that of Sibbick & Krb). Boy, was I wrong about Past!* Not only is Past as bad as expected overall, but worse in some ways. In this review, I list the 2 main reasons why I think Past is that bad.
1) As expected, the text is hit-&-miss in terms of getting the facts straight. What wasn't expected was the high number & degree of misses in the text. That of Chapter 3 is some of the worst: On page 28, it's claimed that Huayangosaurus was "found in the 1970s" (More like 1982), that Kentrosaurus was "only 2.5 metres[...]long" (More like 5 m long), & that "the snout[...of Huayangosaurus...]is long" (It isn't); It's also worth mentioning that, on page 29, Benton misidentifies Kentrosaurus as Dacentrurus & vice versa despite having correctly identified Kentrosaurus on page 28.
2) As expected, the writing is annoyingly repetitive (E.g. Ornithopod chewing is described over & over again) & inconsistent (E.g. Chapter 2 begins with climate, flora, & fauna; Chapter 3 begins with climate & flora; Chapter 4 begins with climate & fauna; Chapter 5 begins with none). What wasn't expected was the plain toast-dryness of the writing. That of Chapter 1 (See the Benton quote) is some of the worst: On page 4, Benton takes 2 major theories of geology & biology (I.e. Radioactive decay & evolution, respectively) & makes them boring & meaningless (I.e. He defines them as "change, over time" & "change through time", respectively); That's when I realized that I was wrong about Past.
To sum up, Bakker put it best when he said, "We dino-scientists have a great responsibility: our subject matter attracts kids better than any other, except rocket-science" ( https://web.archive.org/web/201504170... ). Past doesn't fulfill said responsibility.
*If you get the reference, give yourself a pat on the back.
Quoting Benton: "Dinosaurs lived on Earth long ago, during the Mesozoic Era, which is often known as the “Age of the Dinosaurs”. The dinosaurs lived for 160 million years, eventually dying out 65 million years ago, long before the origin of humans 5 million years ago.
These vast amounts of time, measured in millions of years, have been based upon studies of rocks by geologists. Long ago, geologists realised that the Earth was very ancient, and that vast thicknesses of rocks have been deposited, with the oldest layers generally at the bottom of the pile. Exact ages of the rocks are found out by studies of rocks that have natural radioactivity. Radioactive elements are not stable, and they decay, or change, over time into other elements. The rates of decay are known, and it is possible to estimate the exact age of a rock sample by comparing the amount of a radioactive element left and the amount of the end product.
Fossils are also used in dating, and they can give quick and accurate age estimates, but not in millions of years. Fossils are the remains of once-living plants and animals which have been preserved in the rock. There is a very rich fossil record in the rocks, thousands of species having been preserved through the past 3,500 million years. The fossils give evidence for change through time, or evolution. Different groups come and go at specific times, and rocks of any particular age may contain specific fossils that are never found in rocks of any other age.
Fossil evidence, and exact age dating, form the basis of the geological time scale, an international standard. Time is divided into Eons, Eras, and Periods, and these may be further divided up into smaller units. This is a useful reference for geologists in all countries, and it is the time scale that is used to calibrate the evolution of life. The dinosaurs arose in the Late Triassic Period, ruled the Earth during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, and died out at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary."
December 8, 2016
Awards: N/A
Grade Level: K – 3
Summary: This book is a large reference book full of dinosaur information. It describes dinosaurs of all sizes and types. It is also accompanied by pictures for each dinosaur.
Review: This book is perfect for young children that are interested in learning about dinosaurs. The imagery used in this boo is very entertaining, and provides the child with a good idea of what these creatures may have looked like. I like this book for children of all ages.
In-class Uses:
1) This can be used during lessons about dinosaurs.
2) This is a great reference book, but can also be used in leisure time for young children. Great classroom library addition!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2016
A wonderful book for all reading levels. It shows children many dinosaurs, and how they lived, and acted during their time roaming earth. This book will capture the attention and imagination of any reader who loves or is new to dinosaurs.
This book is a fun book that is more visual than anything else. The pictures are what says it all in this book, and it makes it less intimidating to lower level reader, while also being fun at the same time. I would keep this in my reading library in the classroom.
Student reading bin, class library
This book is a fun book that is more visual than anything else. The pictures are what says it all in this book, and it makes it less intimidating to lower level reader, while also being fun at the same time. I would keep this in my reading library in the classroom.
Student reading bin, class library
March 11, 2008
I LOVE this book especially the more I read it. Samuel has enjoyed reading (looking at) this book since he was only just 2 years old. It is very accurate. The pictures are incredibly detailed and literal. The facts come up on history channel all the time. And it brings up so many questions for Samuel that he learns something each time we read it. Highly recommend this for little boys who aspire to know more about dinosaurs. I bought it at Baby Depot, of all places.
June 27, 2015
Faktaböcker för barn är det bästa som finns! Massor av bilder och informationen är enkelt presenterad! Och ja, jag läser på
Inför att se Jurassic- filmerna!
Inför att se Jurassic- filmerna!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews