Dinosaur Time: A Level One Reader About Learning Dinosaur Names for Children (Ages 4-8)

by Peggy Parish, Arnold Lobel (Illustrator)

A fun introduction to eleven different dinosaurs—their size, their diet, the pronunciation of their names, and their distinctive characteristics. Now young children can read about dinosaurs—even how to say their names—by themselves. "Shouts of welcome will greet this new addition to the I Can Read series." (Horn Book) "Excellent illustrations. A virtual necessity for any library that serves primary-grade children." (School Library Journal) Peggy Parish is best known for her stories about Amelia Bedelia, the literal-minded housekeeper. Arnold Lobel's beloved books include four in the Frog and Toad series. Dinosaur Time is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts of Level One books support success for children eager?to start reading on their own. 

Genres: Dinosaurs, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Animals, Science, School

Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Peggy Parish was the author of the children's story series Amelia Bedelia. The series was continued, after her sudden death from an aneurysm, by her nephew Herman Parish. Peggy attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Herman honored Peggy's life in his book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, by writing in its dedication: "For Peggy Parish, the real Amelia Bedelia."

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Kathryn]

Dinosaur Time. Oh my! This was educational... but not in the way it was originally meant to be. Thank goodness we have more and better dinosaur books today! Published in 1974, this was already slightly dated by the time it was a review book on Reading Rainbow's dinosaur-themed episode in the early '80s. Honestly, I would have thought this book was more like 1950s, though. My husband and I both thought that the illustrations look like something from the bygone era of movies, maybe one of those stopmotion types (1925 version of The Lost World, for example!) I honestly don't know if that's what they were going for? I've enjoyed both Peggy Parish's and Arnold Lobel's works in the past, but I really didn't love this in terms of an informative book about dinosaurs. The text itself is very sparse, and also inaccurate at times. (T-Rex was NOT the biggest meat-eater; and since Spinosaurus was discovered in 1912 in Egypt, I feel like someone ought to have known better before publishing this!) Although not meant to be funny, my kids thought this book was absolutely hilarious and when I said that the author was the same person who wrote the Amelia Bedelia books they thought that made a lot of sense ;-) I reminded my kids that we shouldn't dismiss the book entirely. It is a time capsule to another era, we have had fifty years of scientific advancement and dino discoveries since then. We can see how far we have come, and also be reminded that there will be more discoveries to come. Science is always evolving.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

4/10/2025 - As others have pointed out, this book is very outdated. Great illustrations. I think it could still spark a child’s interest in learning more.

[Kole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good, fun illustrations, out of date info and odd pronunciations of dinosaur names.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the pronunciation guide. That is this book's strength. The problem with it is that it's dated- we've learned rather a lot about dinosaurs and their extinction since 1974. It was fun to read with a five year old dino maven-

I read "Dinosaurs lived everywhere for a long time. Then they died. Nobody knows why."

Then I asked him if he thought this was true, and he was delighted to explain the meteor to me. In the hands of a dinosaur-savvy person, this is a good exploration of how knowledge changes over time.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, this book was first published in 1974, so not all the information is correct, but the combo of Peggy Parish (Amelia Bedelia!) and Arnold Lobel (Frog and Toad) is *chef's kiss*

Especially loved the Teratosaurus (technically not a dinosaur any more) with the big, beefy man-legs.

This is a great book but YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT

This review is part of an ongoing project where I read and review every book that appeared on Reading Rainbow

This book was featured on Reading Rainbow in the “You Don’t Have to Take My Word for It” segment of episode 6, which first aired on July 18th, 1983. This review is part of an ongoing project where I read and review every book that appeared on Reading Rainbow

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this as a kid, so, thought my daughter should enjoy reading it. She's just finishing kindergarten and made it through the book alright with some help on the dinosaur names.

The illustrations are pretty dated though as is the information.

Only really enjoyable if you remember reading it as a kid and being excited that you could finally read a dinosaur book. Otherwise, not much else to redeem it at this point.

[Shannon]

My daughter loves this one and does not care at all that the info is slightly outdated because this was written in 1972. It's written in a fun way that is sort of halfway between academic and fun. ("Maybe they ate like birds?" Shrug! Who knows?! Lol.) The artwork is great, from the same artist who did Frog and Toad I believe.

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other than the fact that this book includes the brontosaurus, which no one can agree on if it existed or not, this book is fantastical!

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/09/1666657...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 2nd grade level book about dinosaurs. Other than their names, which are spelled phonetically, the vocabulary is grade appropriate. This book covers a few different dinosaurs, with a limited amount of information about each type.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first few years of my life, this was at the very top of my list of all-time favorite books. I am not sure if any other book has held that place of honor for as long a time. That certainly must count for something, right?

[Kyra Coffell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very cute, informative, and intriguing book for younger children. It even has specific pages to explain specific dinosaurs. Very cute and peaks children’s interest in the extinct creatures

[The Book Box]

I read this for summer reading but ended up not doing a book report on it.

[Sylvie Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still calls Apatosaurus "brontosaurus," but otherwise still a great introduction to several types of dinosaurs for young children.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read for Maddie, though of course she could already pronounce all the names.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

4/10/2025 - Outdated, but interesting. Read with Momma.

[Emerson and Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Lobel a great artist! Book mystery solved! Miss melodye!

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book for children has much to say about dinosaurs: big, small, long. short, fat and thin. It tells about Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, Ankylosaurus, Brontosaurus, Compsognathus, Teratosaurus, Anatosaurus, Orinthominus, Brachiosaurus, Pentaceratops and Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs. Have you ever heard of so many? It even tells how to pronounce the names and what they eat!

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book with just the right amount of info for preschoolers - early readers. I like that it has a pronunciation guide...that is key for dinosaur books.
The down side of this book is that it is very old (1974) and some of the info is outdated..for example, it says that the Brachiasaurus was fat and lived in the water to help support its weight...eh! Wrong!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly simple book by the author of Amelia Bedelia. Dinosaurs are introduced and characteristics are highlighted. his would probably work well with The Important Book.

What I particularly like about this book is that there is a pronunciation provided for each dinosaur. It seems to me I could incorporate that into a writing project for the students somehow.

[Alyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains several different kinds of dinosaurs. Some are well-known, others aren't. I liked how they incorporated how to pronounce the dinosaur's name. My son watches a lot of the show Dinosaur train and I noticed some of them are pronounced a bit differently from the show.

This book was easy to read. The illustrations were okay. My son liked it so I'm not really going to complain.

[Pynteya Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides description, important facts, and pictures about different kind of dinosaurs. It is also teaches children who to pronounce each name. I think this book can be overwhelming for 1st grade, but can be interesting for 2d or 3d.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simplistic book that presents different dinosaurs with a picture, their characteristics, and how to pronounce their name.

Although it is a little bit dated, I think it would be useful in a younger classroom. The pronunciation of the dinosaurs names is especially useful in the classroom.

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty cool. The dinosaurs pretty much were cool and some of these dinosaurs were slow and some were fast.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

good early reader for kids interested in dinosaurs

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dinosaur Time
Parish, Peggy
great early reader about dinosaurs

[Escher]

Level j, level 1

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit out of date, i think. but my copy is twenty-five years old.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reading Rainbow book)

[Genny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great that she could read it herself, loved the pronunciations and lack of evolution.

[Brenda Ripley]

Ian says: it was bad