Dinosaur (Eyewitness)

I have bought several of the DK book for my son (3 1/2 yrs) and have been very happy with all of them, so when he became interested in dinosaurs I thought this would be perfect for him. When I received it though, I was a little disappointed in it. It just didn't seem to have very much variety, as far as the dinosaurs and their names, etc...I ended up getting "Dinosaur Atlas- An amazing journey through a lost world", also by DK, and love it!!! It has exellent and extensive life-like pictures of the dinosaurs, along with the pronunciation and meaning of the names. It also has see-through pages overlaying some of the larger photos, showing the skeletal system of the dinosaur. There is also an interactive cd-rom included, which is kind of limited in what it shows, but a cool little addition. The book also sub-divides the dinosaurs by location, depending on what continent they lived on, and pages showing how and where they lived. There are all sorts of little tid-bits of info interspersed throughout the book (ie: "Did you know?" boxes), making it an even richer book. I love to sit dowon and look at this book with my son, since I learn so much too! I highly recommend this book over the basic Dinosaur book by DK.

Advanced reading level

My son loves Eyewitness books and has a modest collection already. Dinosaur is the latest addition. The photos and illustrations are entertaining. The information in the books is well laid out and can hold the interest of kids and adults alike! Everyone can learn something from these books. There are over 100 titles, with new ones coming out all the time. I doubt my son will ever tire of Eyewitness books.

Very good condition, would recommend!

Great book

Excellent book. Eyewitness books are always superb. Would like to have many more.

As far as I know, there are 5 editions of "Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)" (henceforth DD 1989/2004/2008/2010/2014). As much as I love DD, it was never truly great: For 1, see the Ben quote; What Ben says about "the AMNH fossil halls" goes for DD; For another, DD is a mixed bag in terms of paleoart.* If you want the current best DD-style book, get Abramson et al.'s "Inside Dinosaurs". If I were to recommend reading an edition of DD in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Holtz's "Dinosaurs"), it'd be DD 2004. In this review, I list the 2 main reasons why that is.1) In reference to "For 1" (which mainly refers to DD 1989), DD 2004 partially solves this problem with "8 pages of new text", all of which are "distinctly color-coded". This is especially apparent in the "Find out more" & Glossary sections: The former lists some of the best dino museums in the U.S. & their websites (which is good because [1] it makes DD interactive, & [2] to quote Norman/Milner, "You can also take a virtual tour of many museums over the internet if you cannot visit them in person"); The latter clearly explains all technical terms. DD 2008 is almost exactly the same in content, the problem being that much of what was accurate in 2004 was inaccurate in 2008 (E.g. The records for "biggest dinosaur", "biggest meat-eater", & "shortest dinosaur name"). DD 2010/2014 have the opposite problem as DD 1989. While DD 1989 is too esoteric, DD 2010/2014 are too simple & condescending (E.g. "Hadrosaur" is defined 10 times throughout DD 2010, including twice on page 70). & if that's not bad enough, DD 2010/2014 are even more inaccurate for their time (probably because they're authored by a non-expert) & exclude said websites.2) In reference to "For another", DD 2004 partially solves this problem with "stunning real-life photographs of dinosaur bones, skulls, teeth and more". This is especially apparent in the "and more" photos: Many of DD 1989's not-so-good life reconstructions, most of which were outdated even in 1989, were replaced in DD 2004 (E.g. Hill & Winterbotham's tail-dragging Mamenchisaurus & Diplodocus, respectively, were replaced by a herd of Graham High's Brachiosaurus); Many of those that weren't replaced got new captions (E.g. The new caption for Graham High's Deinonychus reads, "Most scientists now agree that, unlike the model shown here, Deinonychus was probably feathered"). Pixel-shack's bad life reconstructions started to replace DD's good ones in 2008 & almost completely took over in 2010/2014. Pixel-shack's "DK 2003" Velociraptor (Google "Velociraptor | Sauropedia Wiki | Fandom") replacing AMNH's "Fighting Dinos" Velociraptor (Google "AMNH - Velociraptor, from Fighting Dinosaurs exhibit") is an especially good example of that.*I'm specifically referring to DD's life reconstructions, many of which are not-so-good (I.e. Those by various illustrators & Pixel-shack in the older & newer editions, respectively).Quoting Ben (Google "Framing Fossil Exhibits: Phylogeny"): "Within the actual fossil halls, interpretation remains stubbornly unapproachable. For example, the sign introducing proboscidians tells visitors that this group is defined primarily by eye sockets located near the snout. An observant visitor might wonder why scientists rely on such an obscure detail, as opposed to the obvious trunks and tusks. There’s a good teaching moment there concerning why some characteristics might face more selection pressure (and thus change more radically) than others, but instead visitors are only offered esoteric statements. Relatedly, the exhibit does little to prioritize information. Most label text is quite small, and there’s a lot of it. Compare this to Evolving Planet at the Field Museum, where there is a clear hierarchy of headings and sub-headings. Visitors can read the main point of a display without even stopping, and parents can quickly find relevant information to answer their charges’ questions (rather than making something up).Evolving Planet also compares favorably to the AMNH fossil halls in its informative aesthetics and spatial logic. At FMNH, walls and signs in each section are distinctly color-coded, making transitions obvious and intuitive. Likewise, consistent iconography...such as the mass extinction zones...helps visitors match recurring themes and topics throughout the exhibit. AMNH, in contrast, has a uniform glass and white-walled Apple Store aesthetic. It’s visually appealing, but doesn’t do much to help visitors navigate the space in a meaningful way."

I have never been a fan of DK's eyewitness books, and this is no exception. Without argument, this book has beautiful, large illustrations that leave no doubt in someone's mind what a triceratops skull for example looked like, but besides that, there is little to recommend this book (and others like it in the series).Many different topics are covered, from dinosaur diets, to finding fossils, but they attempt to cram too much information in too little space, so that nothing is truly covered in depth. Instead, things are just mentioned, and big pictures are shoved down you face.These books are not meant to be read. They are meant to be browsed through, so the writing is superfluous anyway. I understand that that is the way the series is designed, but it is a format that really doesn't lend itself to learning. "Wow, what a huge dinosaur skull!" and then that's it. You end up knowing very little else about it, and all you get out of it was a quick thrill.

Super non-fiction book for non chronological report work with Year 3.

Again another great book from dk.with each book on each subject lots of interesting info . Pride of place on my bookcase .

Very informative