I got myself a copy of Dinosaur World somewhat recently, though I held off on reviewing it because I wasn’t sure what to say about it at the time, other than that I liked it. Upon getting a copy of Dictionary of Dinosaurs, however, I suddenly found myself with a lot more to say, having seen how a book with the same premise bungled the execution.
Like Dictionary of Dinosaurs, Dinosaur World purports to catalogue every dinosaur yet discovered at time of writing. The difference here is that Dinosaur World actually delivers on this goal, and manages to be far more informative, too. Every dinosaur gets a small blurb written about it, featuring their name & its meaning, the time & place it lived, its size, and diet. This is accompanied by a small portrait in profile. The dinosaurs are also grouped together according to family relationship, which provides further contextual information.
Certain important or interesting dinosaurs get an additional double-page spread, featuring an illustration of the dinosaur in its environment, along with extra information about it.
It should be noted that “birds” as popularly imagined are generally not included in this book. As a non-expert, I am not sure where exactly the line between avian and non-avian dinosaurs was drawn, but Archaeopteryx IS present in the book, while enantiornithines like Confuciusornis are not.
Among my criticisms of Dictionary of Dinosaurs, I felt it a bit confusing that it included as many dubious genera as it did, with some given greater spotlight than more established taxa. Dinosaur World still includes these, but in their own section at the back of the book, clearly marking them as less well-supported than the rest of the dinosaurs featured.
Paleoartist Julius Csotonyi always delivers with his paleoart, bringing his signature realistic style to this book as well. One can always trust his illustrations to be accurate and up-to-date, and that is very much the case here. (For other books I’ve reviewed that feature Csotonyi’s art, check out Pinocchio Rex, Discovering Sharks, and Dino World: A 3-D Prehistoric Dinosaur Pop-Up Book.)
I was suprised upon purchasing it just how big and thick Dinosaur World is as a physical book, but I suppose that makes sense considering just how many dinosaurs it manages to pack in there (over 1,200)! The sheer number of dinosaurs must have been exhausting to compile and especially to illustrate, and I applaud Csotonyi as well as author Evan Johnson-Ransom for all the work they must have put into this. I highly recommend Dinosaur World, and give it my enthusiastic “Stomp of Approval”.
Dino Dad Reviews 