From Issue #65 Apr/May 2004
65-million-year-old Cretaceous-Tertiary armageddon. Ward's book is not a dry accounting of the fossil discoveries leading to this conclusion, but rather an easily-understood, first-person account of some of his discoveries and disappointments as a scientist. He thoroughly discusses the Permian extinction and a set of prehistoric creatures about which he previously knew almost nothing. These were the Gorgons, carnivorous reptiles whose ecological dominance preceded that of the more popular dinosaurs. They had huge heads with very large, saberlike teeth large lizard eyes, no visible ears, and perhaps a mixture of reptilian scale and tufts of mammalian hair. The Gorgons ruled a world of animals that were but one short evolutionary step away from being mammals. Then, almost in an instant, at the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago, the gorgons were gone, along with most other major land and maritime species, both plants and animals. Ward transports readers with him to South Africa's Karoo desert, where he participated in field expeditions seeking fossils of these fearsome creatures. He suffers routine tick patrols, puff-adder avoidance lessons, thirst, and the everyday humiliations of being the new guy on a field team. Very interesting and written in a personable account.
Magnificent Mihirungs: The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime (Life of the Past) by Peter F. Murray, Patricia Vickers-Rich, James 0. Farlow (Editor) $75.00 Hardcover: 416 pages Indiana University Press; ISBN: 0253342821 A beautiful, thick book that is the first complete study of the Dromornithids, the extinct gigantic geese of Australia. The unique and diverse biology of Australia has created many strange creatures. Made up of several genera of flightless birds including one of the largest birds that ever lived, the dromornithids ranged in size and character. Some have proclaimed them to have been carnivorous, thereby giving them the name Demon Ducks of Doom. This possibility is reviewed in the book. The authors cover the history of study of these birds, the distribution of their remains, family systematics, anatomy and much more in complete, detailed report. With a fabulous photo realistic painted cover and numerous line drawings and photographs inside, this is an exhaustive work covering the complete line of these ancient, extinct creatures that will fascinate interested readers.
I am proud to review a huge new series of twelve hardback dinosaur books from The Childs World publishing company. Each hardback book features one particular dinosaur from Ankylosaurus and Apatosaurus to Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor. This is the series of books Todd Marshall and I were talking about in my interview with Todd last issue as we both provide some of the artwork featured in the set. Todd did all of the cover art plus some more paintings inside and I have illustrations in about half of the books. Other art within was supplied by paleoart legends Mike Skrepnick and the incomparable Douglas Henderson so I am very honored to be a part of these publications . The series is called Exploring Dinosaurs. (a future set will cover non-dinosaur prehistoric animals). The books feature the most up-to-date inf on dinosaurs, including everything from descriptions and their habitats to the scientists who study them (past and present) and were written by Susan H Gray. The books will not be sold in stores but can be purchased through The Childs World by calling 800-599-READ or through their website www.childsworld.com and of course also through www.amazon.com on the internet.
Don Lessem sent PT a review copy of his latest book:
Time for Learning: Dinosaurs written by Don. (Publications International, Ltd ISBN: 0-7853-8504-5) Don has Peter Dodson as his consultant and has utilized the artistic abilities of many of the best dinosaur artists working today including Mark Hallett, Joe Tucciarone, Luis Key, Greg Paul, Phil Wilson, Todd Marshall and more. Throughout this beautiful, colorfully illustrated hardback for young readers Don explains the origin of dinosaurs, and how they lived, the difference between meat-eaters and plant eaters, the different sizes of dinosaurs and their defensive weapons, and much, much more all the way up to their extinction. K will love the pull tabs, acetate overlays, info wheels, foldout posters, mini books and hologram cover art and more to make learning fun. Don told me, "I was
attracted by the publisher's kind offer to let me throw in everything but the kitchen sink in the way of activities - I love books you can play with as we read. This one has just about everything but scratch and sniff T. rex." Thanks Don. Quite an undertaking and beautifully packaged.
Feathered Dinosaurs of China by Gregory Wenzel (Author & Illustrator) Ages 9-12 Paperback $6.95 32 pages Charlesbridge Publishing; ISBN: 1-57091-562-8 Greg Wenzel has illustrated and authored for the first time a wonderful new book featuring the astounding little dinosaurs of China and its Liaoning Province. While I haven't spoken with Greg in a number of years, he was a contributor to this magazine in its infancy. (Almost ten years ago, it was Greg, in fact, that gave me a tutorial by phone from 3,000 miles away helping me to figure out a new scanner I had bought. It has been that scanner, until recently,
that has placed much of the art and photos in PT. Thanks again Greg). His artistic talent and vision of what the dinosaurs looked like is certainly am my
favorites. Greg has for years extensively researched his dino subject matter and always comes up with a look for his prehistoric animals that is most believable and very accurate appearing to me. Many of you are familiar with the excellent set of dinosaur figures from the Boston Museum of Science made by Battat.
I am happy to see his work again and hope to see more soon. Feathered Dinosaurs is packed with more than two dozen full color illustrations tha not only clearly show the dinosaurs but also the probable environment they lived in. Greg tells a story of life in prehistoric China, describing such dinosaurs a Sinosauropteryx, Sinornithosaurus, Caudipteryx and more. Its a journey you won't want to miss.
When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Before Dinosaurs by Hannah Bonner, published by National Geographic might qualify as the longest title of a book reviewed in this column (and we've seen some long titles). This is a fun and interesting book for young readers that covers life on earth 320 million years ago. scientific information is presented with a funny, approach that will inform entertain. Hannah Bonner covers such subjects as prehistoric centipedes as big as a couch, giant, ancient trees, amphibians becoming land reptiles and much more. Young readers will read news reports including the weather forecast from the Permian period. Today will be muggy, just like every other day for the next several million years, and other clever text and illustrations, cartoons,
maps, charts, and other info about the creatures that ruled the earth before the dinosaurs.
Don't Know Much About Dinosaurs by Kenneth C. Davis (Author), Pedro Martin (Illustrator) $16.89 Ages 4-8 48 pages HarperCollins Juvenile Books; ISBN: 0060286202 New hardcover book has questions and answers that provide information about dinosaurs, including the different species, what they ate, how they lived, and why they may have become extinct. The book is part of a series titled Dont Know Much About History (I hope Sam Cook's estate is getting paid for use of his 50's song title). The author has written several books the series and while he has done his dino homework, I don't get the feeling he
is a dinosaur fan. I question how much the author knew about dinosaurs and how
much was all new research simply for this book. The artist works for Hallmar
Cards and draws cutesy dinos throughout. Definitely for very young
readers that are very new to learning about dinosaurs.
I received two new books on dinosaurs from Kingfisher Books.
The World of Dinosaurs by Michael Benton covers all aspects of dinosaur life and how paleontologists piece together the clues to learn more. Different types of dinosaurs are described including newly discovered species, what they ate, how they defended themselves and when and where they lived. I am a big fan of the beautiful James Field dinosaur art within (and would love to contact him for interview in PT if anyone can help). The World of is a new book series for
young readers from Kingfisher that includes other subjects such as horses, pirates and the pyramids.
My second book from Kingfisher is another new title,
The Concise Dinosaur Encyclopedia by David Burnie $12.95 Ages 9-12 Hardcover 224 pages ISBN: 0753457547 The Concise Dinosaur Encyclopedia is a compact, comprehensive voli available for all ages. This portable encyclopedia uses a highly visual approach to the subject of dinosaurs, with show-stopping artwork of dinosaurs in action. The book combines facts with interesting and intriguing feature spreads detailing dinosaur lifestyle, behavior, families, and habitat. From how life earth began and how animals evolved to the catastrophic events that brought about the end of the dinosaurs, this is a nice book for the dinosaur enthusiast. Timelines, a detailed glossary, and a comprehensive index help guide the reader through the book. Kingfisher is re-treading old ground a bit with this release. The book is very informative and best of all, packed from front to back with just about every prehistoric animal painting John Sibbick has done in the past two decades. This is basically the same dinosaur encyclopedia book Kingfisher did a year or so ago (also by Burnie) with John Sibbick's art throughout but now condensed into a handy, more portable size. A must for your library if you don't already have the original version.
Did Dinosaurs Have Feathers? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Author), Lucia Washburn (Illustrator) $16.89 Ages 4-8 40 pages Harpercollins Juvenile Boo
ISBN: 0060290277 This is the latest entry into the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out
Science series and discusses fossil evidence of feathered dinosaurs and
presents theories about the animals' lives and their probable position as the
ancestors of modern birds. Like Zoehfeld's other books on dinosaurs, this is
fairly visually appealing and informative read for young children. Youngsters are
explained the first discovery of a fossil print of an Archaeopteryx feather
1860 in Germany to more recent findings in China of dinosaur fossils showing
plumage. Different feather types and and their purposes are described. She a
discusses the link between theropods and modern-day birds. Also described is
the size of the tiny feathered Microraptor, which was small enough to hold in
your hand -- if you aren't afraid of losing a few fingers -- to the
Beipiaosaurus, which was over seven feet long.Washburn's soft-focus pastel
artwork fills up the pages. An inset map shows where in China the fossils were located.
Harper was also good enough to send us copies of previous books in the series
which include: Zoehfeld and Washburn's Dinosaur Babies,
Terrible Tyrannosaurus plus What Happened to the Dinosaurs? by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by Marc Simont. All are colorful, inexpensive books for children interested in the subject of prehistoric life.
On This Spot : An Expedition Back Through Time by Susan Goodman (Author) Lee Christiansen (Illustrator) Hardcover $15.99A 32 pages Publisher: Greenwillow; ISBN: 0688169147 This is a clever idea for a children's bedtime story book. First they see buildings that touch the sky and traffic zooming down by modern New york streets, a kaleidoscope of color and movement. Now they turn the page and time-travel back 175 years, where on the same spot carriages bumped and pigs raced across cobblestones. Turn again and go back 400 years when a Lenape Indian trail crossed the spot. Now travel farther still, to when glaciers crept, dinosaurs preyed, a tropical sea teemed with ancient creatures and finally back 540 million years, when rock was all you could see. Kids will enjoy the trip through colorful paintings with descriptive text. I'm not sure all of the prehistoric animals shown through the various eras actually ever
lived in the New York area but the fantasy is a good one that children will hopefully have good dreams about.
I told you about Dinosauri magazine from Italy here in the last issue of PT. Well, the second and third issues have already been published and look just as fantastic as the first. Great, full color art and probably great information but unfortunately, it is all printed in Italian. Foreign subscribers are
welcome. 42 euros for 6 issues, payment by mastercard or visa (no paypal). info@aurigapublishing.it or Auriga Publishing International, via Bressanone 17/1 - 16154 Genova, Italy
Also be sure and check out Sean Kotz's figure kit e-zine at www.CreatureScape.com Sean offers a CD packed with buildup articles and more a bi-monthly
basis to subscribers. I just got the second CD. The modeling information is fantastic and essential and the clear photos of finished models are some of finest I've seen, subscribe today!
We also received an informative complete guide to dinosaurs on CD titled
The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia. Graeme Worth of HyperWorks Reference Software to me, "I have been publishing the Dinosaur Encyclopaedia software program fo about 10 years now. The latest version (v7) is now produced on CD in PDF form suitable for all computer types. Very briefly, the product contains all named dinosaurs and Mesozoic birds, regardless of status, with a "page" for each genus, with basic facts as a summary to start with, including a mini-clad, "family", era, size, location, fossils, valid species and general comments, . in many cases a picture. A second section lists all species, and for each species lists individual specimens with catalogue number, description of fossils,
and detailed location info with map reference (currently there are more than 20,000 specimens listed). Other sections contain info on the various clades, descriptions and dinosaur lists for many important dinosaur sites, egg taxa, footprint taxa, an essay section with up-to-date info on many aspects of dinosaurs, and lists based on size, location and time period. There is also
an index on names and a standard index. Price for the CD is $30. The program is updated each year (updates are available at any time for $10).
gmbra@it.net.au
His contact info is the email address from where you can request his order
form etc, or the snail mail address: (25 Clifton St, Scarborough, Western
Australia, 6019). He can take credit card orders.
