Weirdosaurus: Prehistory's Most Peculiar Dinosaurs

by Philip Bunting

Taking a playful peek at some of prehistory’s most peculiar and fabulous dinosaurs, Weirdosaurus explores the world as it would have looked during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. The three great ages help to order the book into three chronological chapters, with maps subtly prompting the reader to take in the first principles of plate tectonics and ‘continental drift’ along the way. Each chapter describes the most bizarre dinosaur residents of that period, with Bunting’s trademark humour and style; including funny annotations, witty jokes and fabulous facts.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Childrens

96 pages, Hardcover

Published September 2, 2025

About the author

Philip Bunting's work deliberately encourages playful interaction between the reader and child, allowing his books to create a platform for genuine intergenerational engagement, and fun.
Philip's books have been translated into multiple languages, and published in over 25 countries around the world. Since his first title was published in 2017, Philip has received multiple accolades, including Honours from the Children's Book Council of Australia, and making the list for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2018. His titles include Mopoke and How Did I Get Here?

Reviews

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.


So I am a big big fan of Philip Buntings books (see my reviews for World’s Most Atrocious Animals: Or Are They?, and World’s Most Pointless Animals: Or Are They? , World’s Most Ridiculous Animals. So when I spotted this one on Edelweiss I just had to get it! I just couldn’t resist. More silliness and fun facts and this time about one of my favourite topics, Dinosaurs!!

Before the book starts we get an introduction in bones/how they looked/how to use the book (all the different terminology you will encounter along with all the rest). I appreciate that Philip Bunting not just showed the dinosaurs I grew up with, but also the ones you see more and more off, the bird-like/feathery ones. Plus, one silly one that looked like a T-rex going to a costume party.

And after that the book starts for real starting with the Triassic Period. Each page features several critters (though there are also pages with just one critter). Each one has a fun illustration (along with some text some that are serious but a lot made me laugh so hard, like not to call Thrinaxodon whiskers or with Pegomastax: when you stand on a Lego Brick), a small description, explanation of their name, some facts and sizes. I really had a lot of fun reading, the short format and the fun illustrations along with the humour make the readability very high and you just want to keep reading. I think my favourite section would be the first one. I know a lot about the other periods but not that much about the Triassic Period, most books just focus on the other periods.

I want to say that I appreciate the huge variety of dinosaurs in this book. I read a whole lot of books about them, or well I used to, and often with books like this they pick a small selection, often a lot of the popular dinosaurs (Stegosaurus/T-Rex/Velociraptor, and that stuff), but Philip Bunting really stuffed this book to the brim + selected some interesting dinosaurs not often featured and I can only applaud.

The illustrations? As always they were fab! I love the colours, I love the way the dinosaurs were drawn.

All in all, if you want a dinosaur book that is a bit more different than normal, don’t get this book if you want to see T-rexes or other super popular dinosaurs, featuring a lot of weird dinosaurs and tons of humour, get this book!

Review also posted on https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed with lots of information and colorful illustrations, this books lets you explore dinosaurs of different periods.

We would have liked it more if we have had the physical copy because the digital version had a weird formatting, and unlike the Quirky Animals series, the illustrations cannot be made bigger, which makes it difficult to read the annotations. So get your hands on a physical copy!

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would make any dinosaur-mad child happy. The bright colors draw you in, and the infographics dump tons of random facts about the different dinosaurs of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. The author loves his puns and dad jokes, so there is something for even an adult reader to chuckle over when reading with your kiddos.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good dinosaur/lizard (because a lot of the regular names are calling them lizards!) book. I am so glad Phil included how to pronounce the names of them all as well. Educational and funny. (Will I retain any of this information? No.)

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderfully brilliant!
🦖🦕

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pictures of weird dinosaurs for kids and plenty of jokes for the adults. I hadn't heard of most of these dinosaurs.