Book Reviews by Mike Fredericks from the pages of the
Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors(Hardcover) by Nicholas Wade $24.95 Penguin Press ISBN: 1594200793 It is truly amazing that scientists are now using DNA analysis to understand the evolution of mankind; their relation to the Neanderthals, who populated Europe and the Near East; and Homo erectus, who roamed the steppes of Asia. Science journalist Wade applies the new discoveries made available by genetics to help answer questions about the appearance and global dispersal of our species. He explains that geneticists can actually trace the movements of a small band of our human ancestors, numbering in the hundreds who left east Africa for Europe about 50,000 years ago. Within a few thousand years, their descendents, the Homo sapiens, became masters of their earth with the other humanoid species having become extinct. Interestingly, this DNA analysis shows that evolution isn't restricted to the distant past: Iceland has been settled for only 1,000 years, but the inhabitants have already developed distinctive genetic traits. Wade expands his survey to cover the development of language and the domestication of man's best friend. This is highly recommended as it shows how DNA analysis is rewriting the history of mankind. Wade presents the science skillfully and clearly.
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins Now in Paperback $15.95 Publisher: W. W Norton ISBN: 0393315703 Scientists today are usually not particularly religious, but Dawkins is an extremely atheist scientist who wants to persuade the reader that Darwinian theory is true. Twenty years after its original publication, The Blind Watchmaker, with a new introduction by the author, is as controversial and yet timely a book as ever. The "watchmaker" belongs to the eighteenth century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed by a creator. Dawkins argues that the only creator is purpose driven physics. Charles Darwin's famous theories challenged the creationist arguments and Richard Dawkins further writes of his discoveries. Natural selection — the unconscious,automatic, blind, yet essentially non random process Darwin discovered — is the blind watch-maker in nature.
The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs by Tim Gardom, Angela Milner $29.95 Hardcover: 128 pages, Publisher: Carlton Books, Limited ISBN: 184442183X A wonderfully illustrated introduction to the remarkable dinosaurs, based on the world renowned collection at London's Natural History Museum; featuring 200 color photos and artworks. This book is based on the world-famous fossil collections and permanent Dinosaurs exhibition at London's Natural History Museum and basically tells the story of dinosaurs as they lived on Earth. Written by two experts from one of the world's leading Paleontology departments, this book features hundreds of color photos and illustrations (mostly beautiful John Sibbick artwork) that reveal the astonishing variety of life that proliferated in the Mesozoic Era. Tim Gardom has researched several major exhibitions,including The Natural History Museum's acclaimed Dinosaurs and Angela Milner is Head of Fossil Vertebrates at The Natural History Museum
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Dougal Dixon $35.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Lorenz Books ISBN: 0754815730 Here is the ultimate book for dinosaur lovers— a complete identification guide featuring 600 dinosaurs, written by Dixon, a leading expert and stunningly illustrated by a number of talented artists, the best of which are good friends of PT; Alain Beneteau and Julius Csotonyi. After a fact filled first third of the book on the world of dinosaurs, the remaining two thirds divides the Mesozoic into its three periods with page after page of dinosaurs, describing each animal from the era with a fantastic illustration. Many of the newly discovered and rarely described dinosaurs are included in this fantastic coffee table tome.
Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert by George T. Jefferson, Lowell Lindsay $49.95 Hardcover: 394 pages Publisher: Sunbelt Publications ISBN:0932653502 Southern California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a vast, mostly arid desert, but the ancient landscapes of Anza-Borrego were once richly populated forests and savanna. Before that, it held a tropical inland ocean teeming with marine life. Today's eroded badlands provide North America's most continuous history of life for most of the last 7 million years opening windows onto the region's long vanished past. Anza-Borrego's record contains more than 550 types of fossil plants and animals, ranging from microscopic pollen and water fleas to walrus bones and mammoth skeletons, which have been the focus of ongoing research and interpretation since the mid-1850s. The results of the past several decades of study by leading researchers from across the nation can now be seen in this comprehensive work, a compilation of 23 authors each with his own specialty. Early chapters explore background themes and concepts, starting with the Imperial Sea episode. Central chapters present individual groups of animals. The bestiary reads like a Who's Who of many of the most unique fossil vertebrates on earth — bathtub-sized tortoises, the sabertooth cat, giant ground sloths, the giant short-faced bear, the largest known mammoth, a giant camel, and the largest bird ever to fly northern hemisphere skies. Closing chapters discuss fossil footprints, intercontinental connections, and paleo-climates and environmental change in the Anza-Borrego desert region. Beautiful illustrations and color foldout paleolandscapes bring the past to life throughout the text.
Cine-Saurus, The History of Dinosaurs in the Movies by Stephen Czerkas $19.95 is the catalogue/book for the Traveling Museum Exhibition from Czerkas Studios in association with The Dinosaur Museum in Blanding, Utah. It is presently at the San Diego Natural History Museum through January 1, 2007. The world's largest collection of original dinosaur movie posters tells the entire history of dinosaur movies. This informative and entertaining exhibit explains the science of how the movies were made from the early stop-motion animation techniques to today's computer generated dinosaurs. It shows the influence of these movies on our culture and on the public's perceptions of what dinosaurs are. This full color book is beautiful and contains tons of photos of the rare pieces from the exhibition and includes many additional materials. The Dinosaur Museum web site has a walk through slide show of the exhibit in San Diego at www.dinosaur-museum.org. What a beautiful book, packed with full color posters, stills and so much interesting history. The book is available at the exhibit in San Diego and through the Dinosaur Museum web site.
Sticker Fun Facts: Dinosaurs (Hardcover) by Per Christiansen $14.95 Publisher: Silver Dolphin Books ISBN:1592236006 Dino-crazy kids will love this educational, interactive book filled with a huge catalog of dinosaurs great and small, lots of fun "Fact-tastic" dinosaur trivia. But best of all, it also includes more than100 re-usable stickers of the dinosaurs covered in the text. Kids can match the stickers to the descriptions in the book, or they can stage prehistoric battles on 5 diorama scenes. Lots of nice art including dinos by an uncredited Luis Rey.
Dinosaurs (Stickerpedia) by Jinny Johnson List Price: $14.95 Paperback (Book & CD) Publisher: Silver Dolphin; ISBN: 1592230466 Nicely illustrated and written with well done text, this series provides a first scientific look at the Dinosaurs! Kids go from Brachiosaurus, the 80-ton vegetarian to Velociraptor, with its razor sharp claws - all the best dinos are here! Awesome illustrations and special stat boxes highlighting key facts add to the fun.
3-D Paint by Numbers: Dinosaurs by Paul Beck $17.95 Silver Dolphin Books; ISBN: 1592234623 Kids take a giant leap back in time to the Mesozoic Era. They tour the Triassic, where they'll make tracks with the Grallator, the "stilt walker" dinosaur, dine wit hthe plant-eating Plateosaurus and explore the super-continent of Pangaea! Journey through the Jurassic, where you'll meet a dinosaur with a crest above its eyes, fondly called Elvisaurus by paleontologists! And learn why dinosaurs vanished during the Late Cretaceous period. Young paleontologists will enjoy the fine illustrations and facts about dinosaurs and their pre- historic world. And as they explore each period of the Mesozoic era, kids can follow step-by-step instructions for completing 5 different 3-D paint by numbers projects.
Fossil Detective: Woolly Mammoth by Dennis Schatz $16.95 Silver Dolphin Books ISBN: 1592233740 Building the new wing a tthe high school stops when woolly mammoth bones are discovered at the construction site. A pair of "fossil detectives," archaeologists from the university, arrive to supervise the recovery of the bones. By piecing together clues, and the bones, the detectives form and test theories about how this mammoth died. While they follow the arguments and the evidence, young readers dig out mammoth "bones" of their own and assemble a woolly mammoth skeleton! This newest kit (in a series that already included T. rex and Triceratops previously) includes 16 "fossilized bones" embedded in rock material, excavation tools, a tray of "created" fossils, a 40-page book, historical timelines, a pictorial glossary, and a peek-through window on the cover.
Could a Tyrannosaurus PlayTable Tennis? (Paperback) by Andrew Plant $8.95 Publisher:Kane/Miller Book Publishers ISBN:1929132972 In this alphabet book you'll find dinosaurs from A to Z and from nearly the biggest to just about the smallest, all drawn in relation to the things around them. Whether it's a golf club, a table tennis table or a basketball court, you'll get the idea! Part alphabet book, part catalog of dinosaur species/ treasury of facts,this book will undoubtedly make young dinosaur lovers happy. A timeline on the inside front cover shows the eras of the Earth, and then young readers are taken on a swift ride through an alphabet of dinosaurs right down to Xuanhanosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus, and Zizhongosaurus. Each page features a question along the lines of the title, accompanied by an appropriately wacky illustration, a pronunciation guide, and information about the species' era, range, size, and diet. The author packs in a ton of dinosaurs, from old favorites like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor to lesser-known varieties and illustrates each beautifully. Dinosaur Alphabet (Hardcover) by Harry S. Robins $18.95 North Atlantic Books, Frog Ltd. ISBN: 1583941673 Talented illustrator Harry Robins captures the world of dinosaurs with vivid, brightly colored art work and fun verses structured around the 26 letters of the alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet accompanies a detailed illustration portraying a different dinosaur, and starts with an ornamental capital letter incorporating another depiction of the creature. Both informative and playful, the. book takes readers young and old from A for Allosaurus to Z for Zuniceratops. Robins works from the latest scientific information about the dinosaurs shown to create a great book for all ages. The art is so very detailed and colorful (sort of William Stout meets Luis Rey) and I know you will love it.
Dino-Rama by George Scott, illustrated by John Sibbick $14.95 Barnes & Nobles ISBN 0-7607-7880-9 This boxed set includes 6 glow-in-the-dark skeletal dinosaur toy figures, a three panel diorama scene and a 64 page book amazingly illustrated by the great John Sibbick. Scott's book starts off with some general information about the dinosaurs then talks about a number of the more popular dinos with nice descriptions. John's black and white line drawings really make the whole affair into something special.
Dinosailors (Hardcover) by Deb Lund, Howard Fine (Illustrator) $16.00 Harcourt Children's Books ISBN:0152046097 After spending time sailing, some seasick dinosaurs decide they have had enough of the high seas. It's purely for kids when a motley crew of dinosaurs set sail for a watery adventure, relaying their tale in rhyme. All goes well until winds blow strong, and dinos finally lose their lunch. They keep their spirit of adventure, which they sensibly re-route to solid ground
"Dinotrainers, all aboard." Kids will enjoy the rhythm and word play here.
All Aboard the Dinotrain (Hardcover)by Deborah Lund, Howard Fine (Illustrator) $16.00 Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books ISBN: 0152052372 The adventurous prehistoric reptiles from Dinosailors are back, this time boarding a train as foreshadowed in the ending of the previous adventure. TheStegosaurus is the conductor, the T. rex is the porter, etc. The dinosaurs are ready for action but a series of misadventures awaits. Too heavy, they are forced to jetty their freight. After traveling through a tunnel, they enjoy the roller-coaster ride until they reach a missing bridge, leaving them in a lake.The crew vows never to board a train again and finishes the book staring a tan airplane overhead. Children will delight in the rolling, rhyming text. This runaway dinotrain will be a big hit with the youngsters.
From Voyager Books come dino books for very young readers by Bernard Most.
The Littlest Dinosaurs (Paperback) $7.00 ISBN:0152481265 Focusing on dinosaurs less than fifteen feet in length, the author/illustrator relates their size to objects common in a child's world: a tricycle, a refrigerator, a backpack, to name a few. Most describes some of the smaller dinosaurs, all measuring fourteen feet or under, in terms of fact and fancy. Most's signature bold pictures and lighthearted, informative text offer the inside story on such mini-dinos as the Anchisaurus, which "could probably squeeze into a telephone booth." Most has children spellbound as he describes dinosaurs not much larger than them.
If the Dinosaurs Came Back (Paperback) by Bernard Most $6.00 In this fun book, a small boy imagines a world where dinosaurs perform public services. Kids will love it as they find out what would happen if the dinosaurs returned.
How Big Were the Dinosaurs? (Paperback) by Bernard Most $7.00 ISBN:0152008527 If Ankylosaurus were alive today, you might be able to ride it to school. And if Diplodocus was on your basketball team, you'd always be sure to win the game; his body would stretch the length of the court! In this fact and fancy filled book about dinosaurs, Bernard Most shows just how the largest of these prehistoric creatures would measure up in today's child's world. A six-page foldout helps show how big the biggest dinosaur really was. Most describes the size of different dinosaurs by comparing them to more familiar objects, such as a school bus, a trombone,or a bowling alley.
Dinosaur Atlas DK CHILDREN; Book & CD-Rom edition ISBN:0756622352 by DK Publishing $19.99 This volume tells the very latest info in paleontology with an easily accessible atlas format to illuminate the mysteries of dinosaur origins, clues to what they looked like and where they lived, and what happened to them. In colorful recreations of the prehistoric world and fascinating see-through overlays featuring 3-D computer graphics of skeletal structures, DK's Dinosaur Atlas brings dinosaurs to life!
Schiffer Publishing creates an enormous library of price guide books for col-ectors. For modelers, two new releases include Aurora Model Kits-Revised 2nd Edition and also Monogram Models, both by Thomas Graham. Monogram has issued hundreds of beautiful model kits over the past several decades and this price guide lists them,describes them and gives a value for each in full color. For dinosaur modelers, it was Monogram that re-issued the Aurora Prehistoric Scenes dinosaur model kits and they are discussed within. Regarding the 2nd edition of the Aurora Model Kits book here, I wish someone would ask me to merely update the prices in my Dinosaur Collectibles guide book that I co-wrote years ago, pay me lots of money and then have it re-issued in a 2nd edition. From what I can tell, that is all that Schiffer and Mr. Graham did with this "new" book. Don't get me wrong. This is a fantastic, full color, informative book all about the fabulous Aurora model kits that we baby-boomers grew up building and loving and if you don't already own the 1st edition of this book, by all means purchase this 2nd edition immediately. But, if you do own the 1st edition, I can't see paying $29.95 again for the identical book, save for a few price adjustments in the value guide section.
Mammoths on the Move (Hardcover) by Lisa Wheeler, Kurt Cyrus (Illustrator) $16.00 Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books ISBN:015204700X A very nicely written and well illustrated new book for kids that depicts the excitement of the migration of the enormous, hairy, legendary woolly mammoths. The rhyming words are sometimes funny, some-times quite serious. The color illustrations capture the creatures' majesty and the beautiful landscape of their trek. Thick black lines and stark whites are balanced by the luminous colors of sky, water, and snow. This successful mixture of rhyme, facts, and illustration, applied to a fascinating subject, will make this picture book a big hit with your children. This handsome picture book features a pack of woolly mammoths as they trek south for the winter, braving fierce storms, deadly predators, and raging rivers while making their slow journey across the gorgeous unspoiled lands of this continent until finally they reach their goal.
I Was A Teenage Moviemaker - Don Glut's Amateur Movies (2 -DiscSpecial Edition) $29.98 From 1953 to 1969, well known dinosaur expert Don Glut made amateur movies, most of them in the horror and science fiction genres. Shot on16mm, these films, thanks to coverage in such magazines as Famous Monsters of Filmland, became well known throughout the world. I Was aTeenage Movie Maker is a feature-length DVD about the making of those films, including interviews with Forrest J Ackerman, Bob Burns, Bill Warren and many more and for the first time ever all 41 of Glut's movies - plus hours of bonus film footage - can be enjoyed on this Special 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD. Donald F. Glut is a popular, busy man. As a writer, he's done everything from movie and TV scripts, comic book scripts, novels and non-fictionbooks, short stories, as well as the novelization for The Empire Strikes Back. As a filmmaker, he has recently delved into erotic horror features such as The Mummy's Kiss and Count Dracula's Orgy of Blood. As Dinosaur man, Don has written the Dinosaurs - The Encyclopedia series and is probably best known for his book, The Dinosaur Scrapbook. Don's movie-making bug originated from a series of amateur films which started in at the age of nine and ended in the late 60s, all having to do with monsters,dinosaurs and super heroes. The films had been acknowledged in the pages of Famous Monsters and Castle of Frankenstein magazines, as well as in several monster movie books, but rarely seen by the general public."I Was a Teenage Movie Maker" is a portrait of Don growing up in 1950s Chicago, fascinated by the old horror movies he watched in the movie theater and on TV. Disc 1 contains the "Dinosaur"films: Diplodocus at Large (1953), The Earth Before Man (1956), Dinosaur Destroyer (1959), The Time Monsters (1959), The Fire Monsters (1959),The Age of Reptiles (1960), Time Is Just a Place (1961), Tor, King of Beasts (1962) and Son of Tor (1964) (the latter two boast a King Kong-like giant ape). Also on the first disc are his "Classic Horror Monsters"films. Disc 2 includes the films concerning "Teenage Monsters"and the "Super-Hero" films plus tons of extras. Don has a great time narrating the film's history and how he made his special effects on a near zero dollar budget. So, are these some great dinosaur and monster films that will amaze the viewer? Well, no, but hey, Don was just an enthusiastic kid when these were made several decades ago. The fun is remembering when you were a kid and how you will wish you had lived in Don's neighborhood to have helped him make some of these films and maybe have been a co-star in one or two of them. I'm confident that anyone with a nostaligic remembrance of their youth and interested in the history of dinosaur and monster movies will enjoy this compilation of Donald F. Glut's early fantasy films. Also Don Glut's latest horror movie just came out on DVD and is titled: The Mummy's Kiss - Second Dynasty. Plus his Dinosaur Valley Girls returns on DVD in a new "Mammoth" edition coming out Dec.5 restored and letterboxed with lots of new extras including half-hour "DinosaurTracks" music videos. Dinosaur Valley Girls - The Novel "Beauties and the Beasts" should be out by the time you are reading this and look for part 2 of the movie Dinosaur Valley Girls coming soon.
King Kong Extended Edition: An extended version of the Peter Jackson King Kong DVD will be available in time for Christmas this year, and should set you back around $34.98. A limited edition gift set, complete with a beautifully crafted King Kong figurine will also be available. This should retail at around $79.98. The film will include an additional thirteen minutes of footage including commentary with Director Peter Jackson & Producer Phillipa Boyens, plus 16 deleted scenes (Totalling around 40 Minutes). The second and third discs in the box set will add even more featurettes and behind the scenes shots and much, much more. A must for the many fans of the film.
Pete Von Sholly Presents Comic Book Nerd Good friend of PT, Pete Von Sholly sent us his latest magazine parody and its definitely a crack-up. Pete pokes good fun at all of the latest, most popular comic books and obviously has a great time doing it. Pete tells us he put as many dinosaurs in there as he could get away with, and there really are quite a few. (PT readers will most appreciate "Star Spangled Dinosaurs" comics inside) You'll definitely get a kick out of it. Get your copy in stores or through www.twomorrows.com.
