Today’s book was kindly sent to me by fellow dinosaur book reviewer Herman Diaz. He posts his reviews to Amazon and Goodreads to help inform prospective book buyers of the quality of the paleontology themed books he has read. Herman wanted to know my thoughts on a book he had come across, and so decided to send me a copy of The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures.
The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs is a popup and lift-the-flap book focusing Mesozoic life. There aren’t actually that many popup displays in this book, but it is jam-packed with flaps and other action pieces that give readers plenty to do.
The book contains sections detailing the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, as well as pages on prehistoric sea life, pterosaurs, feathered dinosaurs, extinction, excavation, and museum work. While I feel like the word “ultimate” in the title might be overselling things a little bit, I nevertheless appreciate the level of detail included in the book. The time period pages focus on specific fossil-bearing formations, which I thought was a nice touch, and a wide variety of species are highlighted, including prehistoric plants, mammals, amphibians, and more.
The illustrations come in the form of stylized cartoons, which are generally decent. There were a few that I thought could have been better, such as a couple instances of “feather sleeves” on the feathered dinosaurs, for example. For the most part, however, they more or less accurately convey the look of most of the creatures depicted.
Overall, I enjoyed The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures, and I recommend checking it out if you get the chance. If you know some kids in the 4-8 year old range, this book will likely be a hit with them. After some back and forth on it, I think I will go ahead and give this one my Stomp of Approval. For some other prehistoric popup books I’ve reviewed, check out Prehistoric Pets, Tyrannosaurus rex: A Pop-Up Guide to Anatomy, Dino World, and the Encyclopedia Prehistorica books on sea life and dinosaurs.
Dino Dad Reviews 
