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Ladybird Leaders #7
Dinosaurs
Provides a picture of and the definition for a basic recognition of dinosaurs
Paperback
First published January 27, 1974
9 people want to read
About the author
Ladybird Books
3,996 books628 followersLadybird books are known and loved the world over. For millions of people, they bring back the golden days of childhood - learning to read, discovering the magic of books, and growing up.
The very first Ladybird book ever was produced by a jobbing printer called Wills & Hepworth during the First World War. The company, based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, began to publish 'pure and healthy literature' for children, registering the Ladybird logo in 1915. Despite the company's claims, however, those books would no longer be politically correct. In the ABC Picture Book, for example, A stood for armoured train!
The very first Ladybird book ever was produced by a jobbing printer called Wills & Hepworth during the First World War. The company, based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, began to publish 'pure and healthy literature' for children, registering the Ladybird logo in 1915. Despite the company's claims, however, those books would no longer be politically correct. In the ABC Picture Book, for example, A stood for armoured train!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 6, 2019
As usual with Ladybird Books, 'Dinosaurs' is full of information about the species, and related species, accompanied by some excellent illustrations.
The early text tells us about the earth millions of years ago when nothing lived on land or in the sea and there were no plants and no people. Then life began in the sea with algae and the first animals, tiny creatures called protozoa; over millions of years the animals changed into jellyfish and sponges, followed by worms and starfish before there were animals that had shells.
The age of fish saw such as the Dinichthys, which was about nine metres long, and the Pteraspis, which was tiny in comparison at 15 centimetres. And at the same time plants began to grow on the land; they looked like mosses and ferns that we see today but some were as tall as trees. And as many lakes and rivers dried up due to the earth's climate becoming hotter, some fish such as the Eusthenopteron, grew lungs and very strong fins so that they could crawl on the land.
Many years later came the amphibians like the Ichthyostega, one metre in length, the Eryops, two metres, and the Eogyrinus, four and a half metres and they ruled the earth for many millions of years. But as the climate became drier some of these amphibians changed into reptiles.
The first reptiles were the Seymouria, about 80 centimetres long, and the Edaphosaurus, three metres, and some like the latter grew large fins on their backs as they began to look more like reptiles. The author then takes us through a whole range of dinosaurs, pointing out the salient points of each; for instance the Dimetrodon, three metres long, was one of the first reptiles to eat meat, while the Diplodocus and the Apatosaurus were two of the biggest of the dinosaurs.
Sea reptiles such as the Plesiosaurus, 12 metres long, and gliding reptiles such as the Rhamphorhynchus, with a wing span of 90 centimetres, are also covered, as are the first birds like the Archaeopteryx, wing span 40 centimetres and with teeth like a reptile, and the first mammals such as the South American Megatherium, which stood about 5.5 metres tall. And there are plenty more such animals to feast the eyes on and wonder.
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for nearly 150 million years and two of the last of them were the Monoclonius, about six metres long, and the Triceratops, nine metres, with the latter being a plant eater that had two of its three horns above its eyes.
'Dinosaurs' is a great and highly informative introduction to the subject and certainly makes one want to know a lot more about these creatures.
The early text tells us about the earth millions of years ago when nothing lived on land or in the sea and there were no plants and no people. Then life began in the sea with algae and the first animals, tiny creatures called protozoa; over millions of years the animals changed into jellyfish and sponges, followed by worms and starfish before there were animals that had shells.
The age of fish saw such as the Dinichthys, which was about nine metres long, and the Pteraspis, which was tiny in comparison at 15 centimetres. And at the same time plants began to grow on the land; they looked like mosses and ferns that we see today but some were as tall as trees. And as many lakes and rivers dried up due to the earth's climate becoming hotter, some fish such as the Eusthenopteron, grew lungs and very strong fins so that they could crawl on the land.
Many years later came the amphibians like the Ichthyostega, one metre in length, the Eryops, two metres, and the Eogyrinus, four and a half metres and they ruled the earth for many millions of years. But as the climate became drier some of these amphibians changed into reptiles.
The first reptiles were the Seymouria, about 80 centimetres long, and the Edaphosaurus, three metres, and some like the latter grew large fins on their backs as they began to look more like reptiles. The author then takes us through a whole range of dinosaurs, pointing out the salient points of each; for instance the Dimetrodon, three metres long, was one of the first reptiles to eat meat, while the Diplodocus and the Apatosaurus were two of the biggest of the dinosaurs.
Sea reptiles such as the Plesiosaurus, 12 metres long, and gliding reptiles such as the Rhamphorhynchus, with a wing span of 90 centimetres, are also covered, as are the first birds like the Archaeopteryx, wing span 40 centimetres and with teeth like a reptile, and the first mammals such as the South American Megatherium, which stood about 5.5 metres tall. And there are plenty more such animals to feast the eyes on and wonder.
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for nearly 150 million years and two of the last of them were the Monoclonius, about six metres long, and the Triceratops, nine metres, with the latter being a plant eater that had two of its three horns above its eyes.
'Dinosaurs' is a great and highly informative introduction to the subject and certainly makes one want to know a lot more about these creatures.
March 19, 2021
I cannot love this book more.
I think it was my first ever book about dinosaurs when I was a kid and it started an awe and a wonder that kids still go through today when they encounter these wondrous beasts for the first time.
I was so pleased to get hold of a copy to replace the one from way back when.
In the intervening years of course there have been a colossal amount of books and stories written. My first children's book was all about the fantasy of a boy finding a dinosaur in his garden - yes.. I think they're that great!
I have not turned the pages in over 40 years.. so this was like opening a buried treasure.
This book gives a narrative in chronological order that takes you from the first seas teeming with life, all the way to the appearance of mammals and man! So much to fit in one book, but along the way you will get to see artists impressions of all the favourites, like Triceratops and the Stegasaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex with some other greats like Antrodemus and Polacanthus.
A delight for every budding dinofan... even though you may have to find this second hand.
I think it was my first ever book about dinosaurs when I was a kid and it started an awe and a wonder that kids still go through today when they encounter these wondrous beasts for the first time.
I was so pleased to get hold of a copy to replace the one from way back when.
In the intervening years of course there have been a colossal amount of books and stories written. My first children's book was all about the fantasy of a boy finding a dinosaur in his garden - yes.. I think they're that great!
I have not turned the pages in over 40 years.. so this was like opening a buried treasure.
This book gives a narrative in chronological order that takes you from the first seas teeming with life, all the way to the appearance of mammals and man! So much to fit in one book, but along the way you will get to see artists impressions of all the favourites, like Triceratops and the Stegasaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex with some other greats like Antrodemus and Polacanthus.
A delight for every budding dinofan... even though you may have to find this second hand.
August 13, 2019
(1983 edition) When I was little, my brother had the earlier edition of this, with the red stripe along the top. Back then, I thought it was a fascinating book and even now, it is still packed with more information than most modern documentaries. The illustrations are quite brilliant. The writing is deceptively succinct. If I have any qualms, it's that insects' existence is entirely omitted from this 'history of the world' although it is mentioned that other dinosaurs predated upon them, and perhaps some sense of timescale could've included somewhere, even if such numbers might make young readers' heads swim. Ladybird books were really very good indeed back in those days. 4.75/5
July 2, 2020
A cool little Ladybird book that will teach you everything you need to know about dinosaurs. I particularly liked the images that were contained in here which showed humans standing beside the dinosaurs for scale.
March 11, 2019
Enlightening
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews