Books like That's Not My Dinosaur

This series really brings dinosaurs to life for young readers. One of my children was obsessed with dinos for a while, and this series was so much fun to read together. They are full of interesting facts and tons of action. I highly recommend them as read-alouds for the entire family.

This is a great time-slip adventure story.

I love the author’s deep knowledge of Australian dinosaurs and the research she has put into creating a fast-paced and riveting story. Zac, Clare, and Luke Adamson are in drought-stricken outback Queensland. When the trio set off in search of dinosaur fossils, two cyclones merge, and after the storm clears, they are in a vastly different place and time. 

From reading this, I discovered something new and learned about an ancient creature known as the Demon Duck of Doom. Very interesting stuff indeed!

What I really love about this book is the use of poetry and original and engaging illustrations to invite kids into reading. My favorite poem is “Barosaurus,” which does a particularly good job of inviting the young readers to engage their imagination with the book. While not my favorite Douglas Florian book, it is, like the other books from this very talented author and illustrator, well worth the read!

From the lizard-looking Dimetrodon to the wooly mammoth to the 1,000-pound turtle-like Glyptodont, as well as the modern-day Latimeria fish species that was believed to have gone extinct millions of years ago (Surprise! It turned up in a fisherman’s net!), puts this book in the “must-read” category. A bouncy rhyming text that highlights large creatures that roamed the Earth both before and alongside dinosaurs, makes this book a win, especially since it lands at a modern-day avian dinosaur that can be seen in tweety parakeet.

The books so far are more for adults than children, although many children show remarkable powers of reading and learning with any dinosaur book. But this one is aimed at children, and it’s comprehensive and up-to-date.

Dinosaur fans love lists and catalogues, and they want a book that has everything. This is probably the best such book, and it packs in a huge amount of material into its 300 pages.

This book is great for those who want a more exhaustive reference book. This is one of several good dictionaries of dinosaurs and related terms. It is illustrated in black and white, but the text predominates, and as such it serves as a reliable reference for facts about dinosaurs, including many that are not found in mass-produced gift books. I also like that it includes the etymology of entries. It’s a little old (1983), but was awarded several honors, including being a Golden Kite Honor Book, and ALA Notable Book, and a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book.

Although this book is only 16 pages long, it tells a story that could easily have been a novel, which is that she is capable of condensing something so dense down to so few words without making it feel like anything was left out. Here we see a rather fantastical time travel tale, but one that, although at first seems quite light-hearted, ends up being one of the darkest of such tales I've ever read...and the most thought-inducing.

I loved this book and have a very difficult time reviewing it without giving too much away, but if you've got a spare thirty minutes (you know, for you slow readers), I'd highly suggest you pick this one up immediately.

Lately, I’m hearing and reading news about recent dinosaur discoveries. It never gets old!

The author obviously loves dinosaurs and science. The writing is informative and never dull. It’s a primer for kids, ages 7 to 12, who want to learn about dinosaur history and science. I loved the author’s enthusiasm for his subjects. He works as a paleontologist and enjoys sharing information about new discoveries.

This book came out a few years ago. It shows the link between dinosaurs and birds. Prior to this, I didn’t know dinosaurs had feathers. The author presents facts about dinosaurs that are easy to understand and appreciate. He’s enthusiastic about dinosaurs, and his enthusiasm is carried throughout the book.

To take a break from his day job as Professor Emeritus of Higher Mathematics at Caltech, Eric Temple Bell (John Taine was his pen name) wrote a series of science fiction novels that dealt, not with mathematics, but largely with biology. Any of these are still quite readable today, and notable for their discussion of biology and related fields when most writers of science fiction were focused on physics and space travel.

The Greatest Adventure deals with mutated dinosaurs in Antarctica, which sounds like something out of a 1950s horror film but which Bell uses as the basis for an investigation into science and not schlock. I suspect he utilized the pen name John Taine so as not to embarrass his supercilious colleagues in the math department (or possibly himself).

This is one of my favorite books by Carla Jansen and one that both kids and adults will enjoy.

Great illustrations, wonderful rhyme, and adorable diverse characters, including a dinosaur. It is a story of friendship that also shares facts and information about the water cycle. It is a very entertaining and educational book. Homeschoolers and children that are interested in dinosaurs and science will love it!