What Was the Age of the Dinosaurs?

What was...?

by Megan Stine, Who H.Q., Gregory Copeland (Illustrator)

Travel back to the time when the mighty dinosaurs ruled the earth.The Age of Dinosaurs began about 250 million years ago. In the beginning they were quite small but over time they evolved into the varied and fascinating creatures that captivate our imaginations today. What we know about dinosaurs is evolving, too! We've learned that some dinosaurs were good parents, that dinosaurs could grow new teeth when old ones fell out, and that most dinosaurs walked on two legs. We've even discovered that birds are modern relatives of dinosaurs!

Genres: Nonfiction, Dinosaurs, Childrens, History, Science, Kids, Animals

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 2017

About the author

Megan Stine is the Editor-in-Chief of Real U Guides and the author of more than 100 books for young readers including Trauma-Rama, an etiquette book for teenagers published by Seventeen magazine, and several titles in a series based on the popular 1990’s television series Party of Five. A frequent writer of books in the enormously popular Mary-Kate and Ashley series, she is the best-selling author of Likes Me, Likes Me Not and Instant Boyfriend. She has worked with CBS and ABC in developing comedy and drama television pilots, and has written comedy material for a well-known radio personality in New York.

When she isn’t writing, she is a portrait and fine art photographer and a contributing photographer for the Real U series of guides.

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Project Learning English by myself through children's books.
"Mary Anning, Girl Dinosaur Hunter (1799-1847) - Men weren't the only fossil-hunters. A young girl named Mary Anning and her brother Joseph had been trained to hunt for fossils by their father. Mary's family was poor, so they sold the shells and bones to tourists and scientists, to earn money.

When Mary was eleven years old, her father died. Around that time, she and her brother found an entire 'ichthyosaur' skeleton! She continued to collect dinosaur bones her whole life. Scientists would come to her and buy whatever she found. She was the first person to find a fossil of ancient poop! She also found the first complete 'plesiosaur' skeleton discovered in England. She found a 'pterosaur' as well. As an adult, Mary had a deep understanding of the skeletons she uncovered. She knew she was finding unusual species that hadn't been seen before. But Mary was a woman from a poor background - and not educated. Women were not allowed to join the Geological Society of London at that time. So she never got all the credit that she deserved for her discoveries." (Pages 84 and 85)

[Some Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books in this series, this is an entertaining and informative age-appropriate light read. It gives you insight on what scientists think of those creatures. It also touches on some of their traits such as size, shape, and diet. It briefly touches on the times periods during which lived the dinosaurs. It also briefly discusses extinction theory. It also mentions names of explores who found dinosaurs bones and what they did with that.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative kids/middle grade book about dinosaurs. Touches on facts about different dinosaurs, some of the earliest scientists involved in discovering them, and their evolution into things living on Earth today, such as birds. Perfect educational tool for a classroom or homeschool dinosaur lesson.

[Jessica Woodring · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first nonfiction chapter book (and first “Who Was/What Was…?” series book) that I’ve read with my dino-loving daughter. She’s currently learning about dinosaurs in school and was so excited to hear some things she already knew as well as many new bits of knowledge that she can’t wait to share with her teachers and classmates. If I read a book with my daughter, I always let her help me rate it. She wanted to give this one four stars because “I learned a lot and it was fun, but I didn’t ‘5-star’ love it.” 😂🦖

[Keith Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of books is perfect for my almost-seven-year-old. If your children love to read or are budding scientists or historians, these books are great for reading together.

[Zaid Taqi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really taught me a lot about the age of dinosaurs, and it's really interesting. I learned that some dinosaurs are still alive today, as long as some other facts about dinosaurs. I always wanted to learn more about dinosaurs.

[Miko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and informative book. I liked that this was something easy to digest for younger readers and wasn't so heavy with vocab and scientific terms. I also liked the historical pieces that were put in throughout the book.

[Mrs. Melaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinosaurs were masters of the earth for millions of years. This succinct overview summarizes their full reign during the Triassic, Cretaceous, and Jurassic periods. Supplementary concepts necessary to understand the field of paleontology such as continental drift, how fossils form, and mass extinction events are explained. Several chapters chronicle the rise of fossil hunting in the 1800s. As with the rest of the series, the length is just over one hundred pages; particularly impressive in this case, since over two hundred million years are spanned. The cover, showing a toothy big-head tyrannosaurus rex, should attract readers in droves.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always accessible and filled with fascinating information about the subject, this focuses on the history of finding the first fossils, then takes it way back to what the different periods that dinosaurs existed was like, sharing cool facts about the egg tooth that birds (and their dinosaur predecessors) have to crack their egg to be born and subsequently lose to how fossils are created, the kinds of dinosaurs that existed, and ultimately what killed them and brought on the age of mammals.

[MARY MASON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of different types of dinosaurs and how they lived. Great for students who don't know much about dinosaurs or paleontology.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was interesting and good

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what life was like when dinosaurs were around? Megan Stine tells us that and more in this engaging nonfiction book for children elementary school aged and above. Most kids love dinosaurs and will love reading this book. There's a beautifully detailed illustration of a t-rex right on the front cover. You can even see the defined texture of its skin. What a great way to draw readers in. This book talks about the first evidence to dinosaurs, how they lived (diet, behavior, sounds), procreating, and how to keep digging up bones today. There are many fun facts that are even exciting for adults to learn. There are plenty of pictures to keep children interested in between the portions of text. There's even a part where Stine tells us if the 1933 movie "Jurassic Park" was accurate in how dinosaurs sounded and behaved. I even had trouble putting this book down. Stine answers our most asked questions of how the dinosaurs were wiped out and was the t-rex really the big boss in charge? The style of the information presented is in easy-to-read language for children. I especially love how the author includes pronunciations for the dinosaur names that many be complex to read out loud. You can tell this book was written for kids. Do you want to know if dinosaurs are still living today? Find out in this book!

[Δάσκαλος · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. In the early nineteenth century, no one yet realized that in prehistoric times, gigantic animals had roamed the earth.
2. The Cretaceous was the time when dinosaurs truly ruled the world.
3. From the small size of their brains, we know that dinosaurs didn’t think much. They didn’t make decisions. They acted on instinct. (Instincts are ways of behaving that are inborn, not learned.)
4. Then, in the seventeenth century, a dinosaur bone was discovered. It was a huge thigh bone, found in Cornwall, England. The men who found it took it to a professor named Robert Plot. Plot thought about that bone for a long time. What could it be? He knew it was too big to have come from a horse. Could it be from an elephant that someone brought to England hundreds of years ago? Nope. It was even bigger than an elephant bone. There was only one answer, he decided. It must be from a giant human! That was easier for people to believe than to imagine an animal like a dinosaur.
5. Once the huge dinosaur sculptures were on display in London, people went crazy for dinosaurs. The craze was called “dinomania.”
6. In the end, both men wound up broke. But that turned out to be a good thing for science. Cope and Marsh found so many dinosaur fossils because they were working hard to beat each other in the “bone wars.”
7. From the skeletons, we know that many dinosaurs could rear up on their hind legs, like a horse!
8. Since birds are so closely related to dinosaurs, and birds make sounds, it’s possible that dinosaurs did, too. But dinosaurs are also closely related to reptiles. Most reptiles make no vocal sounds.

[Hope Irvin Marston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Those of us who believe the Bible is the infallible word of God classify this explanation as science fiction because it contradicts the first chapter in the book of Genesis. While much has been learned from studying fossils, the Bible makes it clear when He created animals. On page 57, the author writes that "From birth to death the smallest dinosaurs MAY HAVE only lived a few years. The bigger, slow-moving ones COULD HAVE lived for up to fifty years or more. But SCIENTISTS DON'T KNOW FOR SURE and some argue that the largest herbivores COULD HAVE lived a century." (I added the caps.)

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Was the Age of the Dinosaurs? by Megan Stine was a quick read and a great overview of the time of dinosaurs but also a history of our world. The dinosaurs time period is called the Mesozoic era. It began 250 million years ago. It lasted until the dinosaurs died out, around 65 million years ago. I finally learned that the Mesozoic era is divided up into three parts—Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. The very first dinosaurs appeared on earth during the last part of the Triassic, about 230 million years ago. Dinosaurs existed on earth for about 165 million years.

[Engie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. I like that it is informative, fun, age-appropriate and very interesting. This light read is filled with information about the size, weight, diet, and lifestyle of dinosaurs. I really enjoyed the story like manner in which it is written. Each chapter introduces you to something new.

I will have my 6 yr old niece read them. She loves dinosaurs. In my case, I read it for fun because I love dinosaurs and it didn't matter that it's a children's book. I will definitely read more of the series because they're written in such a way that even captivates an adult.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, easy book for kids about dinosaurs. I love learning about dinosaurs and this was a great format. I appreciated that they that the pronunciation of all the dino names in parentheses right next to the name.

Fun fact: They thought of naming the Utah Raptor after Steven Spielberg, since he did Jurassic Park, and they hoped he might donate some money. He did not donate any money and did not get a dinosaur named after him. If I had the millions and had the chance to have a dino named after me I would be all over that.

[Samarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informational
3rd-6th

I really love how easy this book is to read and understand. I also really enjoyed how it gave facts on almost everything you could think of that has to deal with dinosaurs. From the types and different characteristics to those who helped discover and understand them. One thing that stuck out to me that I loved is that they had a little guide to help you pronounce the name of each dinosaur. I feel as though this just made the book more fun. In the end I would like to add this one to my classroom.

[Rebekah Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational
3rd-6th

I really love how easy this book is to read and understand. I also really enjoyed how it gave facts on almost everything you could think of that has to deal with dinosaurs. From the types and different characteristics to those who helped discover and understand them. One thing that stuck out to me that I loved is that they had a little guide to help you pronounce the name of each dinosaur. I feel as though this just made the book more fun. In the end I would like to add this one to my classroom.

[David Rough · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of interesting drawing of various dinosaurs. Lots of theory communicated as fact. The boook was well written for young readers. My biggest concern is the communication of possibilities and theories as facts. The timeline absolutes were well defined, but really reflect a theory. Even the description of the various dinosaurs (size, weight, speed), although very interesting, seem to me to be subjective and dependent of major assumptions.

[Elina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book. It was interesting but some were in the middle it became boring. So that is why I gave only 3 stars. But it was nice. The pictures were interesting and it gave more details. But still it gave good facts about dinosaurs. I also like how they started the book for more details check out the book.

[Juan P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

The only thing I would have to say about this book is the best way to get them to be able to use a different way of biographies is going to be a big deal for your next book

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a Dino-crazed kid. He knows more at 5 than I know about dinosaurs at 40. This book is perfect for him (and me). We did this as a read-aloud but I bought this for our home library because I'm sure he'll be pulling it off of the shelf often as he gets older and learns to read himself.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talks about dinos, the people that found them, the scientific community, and more. Learn about the time periods, evolution and more. Debunks some of the myths. Gives both boys and girls heroes. Really makes you think. Explains evolution, extinction, and more.

Fascinating for adults too.

[Rosario Juarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves dinosaurs,when he saw this book he asked me to buy it for him. We loved reading all about dinosaurs, and how they once lived. The book is well written, very informative, and had great pictures..

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with my 9 year old. It is a great starting point for an older elementary student who wants to learn a bit about dinosaurs. The illustrations were drawn well although they weren't colored. Great facts and full of useful information!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very detailed book about dinosaurs. The reader will learn all about the time they lived on earth and how they were found. There are many lessons available through the reading of this book.

[Luke Ewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It talked dinosaurs.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine how people felt when they discovered dinosaurs. To me they have never not existed.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old paleontologist in the making loved this! We read it together (obviously) and we both learned a great deal. Me more than him, I'm sure. Lol.