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DK Guide to Dinosaurs
Cover DK Guide to Dinosaurs
Author: David Lambert
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Product: Book (64 pages)
Ages: 6 to 12
Cost: $27.95 (CDN)
Research into dinosaurs is moving at an astounding pace and author David Lambert is keeping up! In the DK Guide to Dinosaurs, readers learn the “latest” news: living dinosaurs might just outnumber their extinct relatives by ten to one. Yup. The new theory is that birds evolved from dinosaurs known as theropods. Lambert covers it all: the three dino-periods, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous; which dino was probably faster than a racehorse; which dinos probably migrated. By using great big illustrations and by comparing dinosaurs with living animals, Lambert brings dinosaurs to, uh, life!
Kaila de Boer

Reviewer: Kaila de Boer
Age: 10

The DK Guide to Dinosaurs is a beautifully designed book that is extremely well organized. It is alive with illustrations, photographs, and graphics that are of superb quality and the pictures of the carnivores in the book were not intimidating, so small children would still enjoy the book. I particularly liked the photographs of the fossil remains that have been excavated from around the world. A great feature of the book was the way it compares the size of people and dinosaurs.
     One of the most interesting things in the book, for me, was the guide that said the name of the dinosaur, how to pronounce it, and what the name meant. For example: Gallimimus (gally MEEM uss) chicken mimic, was one of my favourites.
     One feature that I didn’t enjoy as much was the page at the back of the book called “Types of Dinosaurs”. This page wasn’t as clear or crisp as the rest of the book, but one out of 64 pages certainly isn’t bad!
     I learned so many interesting things from this book that I wasn’t aware of. I learned that most paleontologists believe that most dinosaurs died 65 million years ago, from a massive comet or asteroid collision with the Earth. I also learned that the Hadrosaurs were the Cretaceous equivalent of cows, as they wandered in giant herds through the forests and swamps of North America.
     I wouldn’t change anything about this book. My overall impression was that it was packed with very recent, colourful, exciting, detailed information that would definitely appeal to kids, especially those from kindergarten to grade five. Out of ten, I would certainly give this book a ten. Described in one word, it would be awesome! If you are a dinosaur lover or you want to introduce this wonderful world to someone, this book is definitely for YOU!

(Originally published in the Mar/Apr 2001 issue of YES Mag.)


Copyright © 2003 Peter Piper Publishing Inc.
Last updated April 14, 2003.