What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Keep Dinosaurs
(Burst) Now—escaped form the juvenile catalog and running wild with adults!
It’s funny, it’s fun—an irrestible “spoof”!
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, this “dino owner’s manual” amusingly explains what every human must know before adopting a new saurus. Find out what should go into the basic toolkit (a stout shovel is helpful and so are reinforced gauntlets); which species thrive in household life and which will cause BIG problems; and what dinosaurs are just right for circuses and zoos, in security, and for giving eggs and meat. For every dinosaur covered, there’s information on feeding, breeding, housing, and availability; maps of where they lived; details on weight and size; as well as other pertinent facts. The illustrations cleverly mix photography and art to bring humans and dinos together for the first time.
It’s funny, it’s fun—an irrestible “spoof”!
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, this “dino owner’s manual” amusingly explains what every human must know before adopting a new saurus. Find out what should go into the basic toolkit (a stout shovel is helpful and so are reinforced gauntlets); which species thrive in household life and which will cause BIG problems; and what dinosaurs are just right for circuses and zoos, in security, and for giving eggs and meat. For every dinosaur covered, there’s information on feeding, breeding, housing, and availability; maps of where they lived; details on weight and size; as well as other pertinent facts. The illustrations cleverly mix photography and art to bring humans and dinos together for the first time.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published September 29, 1983
4 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 16, 2008
Overall, I thought this was a delightful book! When I first started reading it, I would have given it five stars because I think it is SUCH a cute and creative idea, well put-together and engaging for children and adults alike! -- I know when I was little, I would have loved to know how to raise a triceratops! :-) Mash has a (to me!) hilarious sense of humor--very British-y and charming. It really does read like one of those "So You Want to Become a Cat Owner" -type books, telling you about different breeds and which might be a good fit for you. The photos of people with their pets (like an older gentleman sitting on the sofa watching TV while his little featherd dinos play about him; or the handsome businessman taking his big dino for a walk, along with a shovel for a pooper-scooper) are soooo funny! Little details, like a list of dino breeders (catalog-style) make this even more charming. It should also be noted that Mash does have the scientific background to write about dinos so the casual reader will learn a few things.
I ultimately give the book four stars because I felt that a few of the entries got a bit redundant (indeed, I skipped a few toward the end). Also, a few times I felt that Mash's humor came at the expense of making this a book suitable for children--in terms of the "mating practices" sections--certainly some children may not pick up on the innuendo, but I felt the book was funny enough without it and that it ruined some of the cute-ness and family-friendly-ness. Still, this was only in a few entires and, taken as a whole, the book is a delight and treat for all those longing to invite dinos into the family! :-)
I ultimately give the book four stars because I felt that a few of the entries got a bit redundant (indeed, I skipped a few toward the end). Also, a few times I felt that Mash's humor came at the expense of making this a book suitable for children--in terms of the "mating practices" sections--certainly some children may not pick up on the innuendo, but I felt the book was funny enough without it and that it ruined some of the cute-ness and family-friendly-ness. Still, this was only in a few entires and, taken as a whole, the book is a delight and treat for all those longing to invite dinos into the family! :-)
April 22, 2015
SUPER FUNNY. A total gem. If I could have a dino, this is my go-to book to pick one.
November 1, 2017
Hilarious and (tangentially) educational, with plenty of beautiful pictures.
March 7, 2017
A further attraction of the dinosaurs is that, in these conservation-conscious days, the keeping of rare or threatened species is rightly frowned upon: no such qualms can hinder the dinosaur-keeper, who deals only with animals that are already extinct.
So goes Robert Mash, in a subtle break of character, just after the opening of his book, How to Keep Dinosaurs. A parody of both overly in-depth pet-keeping manuals and all-too-often cheesy and formulaic popular nonfiction on dinosaurs, How to Keep Dinosaurs is set up like a stocky, full color, through-thick-and-thin Complete Idiot's Guide to Dogs-type deal,divided up into sections detailing the care and husbandry of various sorts of long-extinct reptiles, complete with silhouettes next to people as a mark of scale (a popular trope in dinosaur encyclopedias) and cheery little icons that symbolize aspects of a particular species's personality, such as whether a dinosaur "likes children" (this is represented by a teddy bear) or "likes children to eat" (another teddy bear, except this one has a bite taken out of it).
This is all supplementary to the main body of the work, which describes how to care for and own one of ~90 or so prehistoric reptiles (they're not all dinosaurs here, folks), structured in a guidebookesque format, complete with computer-generated representations of the beasts. Some even have dog collars or other petkeeping implements. Occasionally, a full page spread shows up, displaying a domestic scene cheerily juxtaposed with pet dinosaurs going about their antics or doing various jobs; there is a scene of a boneheaded Stegoceras acting as a caddy for golf, one of a herd of Diplodocuses crossing a country road in front of a justifiably irate driver, and a personal favorite where a pack of Deinonychuses, clustered around a table with chunks of meat in front of them. Mash states that the species "will only play poker for high steaks."
Such comedy clearly falls under the category of humour with a strong emphasis on the second u. In fact the humour can be so dry, in fact, that it crumbles apart in a fashion reminiscent of a dry piece of toast or a burnt chunk of charcoal when used to describe the lives of the dinosaurs. Some of the dinosaur descriptions do like to fall back on a single joke, i.e. Ornithimimuses are analogues to horses, Nodasauruses are tender but a little bit stinky. This can get old with time, though this book is more of a coffee table curiosity than any serious sit-down reading material.
There are a couple inside jokes for people knowledgeable about paleontology, if that's your province; the places where you can "purchase" them are almost always areas where their fossils were discovered in the real world. Mash is also very comically liberal with his translations of the creatures' names (the mallardesque Anatasaurus's name, meaning "Duck Lizard," is said to derive from "its habit of submerging its fellow dinosaurs in the water." Mash also tries to squeeze his fair share of dirty jokes and innuendoes into the book, usually found under the "mating" section of each creature's description. All of that is probably a parody of pet mating habits, so literally described in many mainstream animal guides, yet it does get a bit old hearing about how fussy dinosaur x can be during copulation for the 50th time. Such jokes could have been done more tastefully and effectively.
Funny memory: when I read this book as a curious little six-year old, I just about asked my mother what the term "rampant homosexuality" meant, seeing as it was used to describe how the pterosaur, Pterodactylus was so difficult to breed. Am I glad I held my tongue and she didn't have to open that can of worms then. Take a page from every kid's movie made now, Mash. Let it go over kids's heads.
Still, this is good fun for those who love dinosaurs and aren't afraid to engage in a little hopeless speculation about how, exactly, one would be able to keep an Oviraptor as a guard dog. Bonus points for the introduction (in the new edition) by Richard Dawkins. In typical Dawkensian fashion, he writes about the natural selection of Mash's humor, before playing along with the dinos-are-real conceit established throughout the book and ending his with a short little jab against his rivals, the creationists. Love him or hate him, the man knows how to keep it engaging.
6/10
So goes Robert Mash, in a subtle break of character, just after the opening of his book, How to Keep Dinosaurs. A parody of both overly in-depth pet-keeping manuals and all-too-often cheesy and formulaic popular nonfiction on dinosaurs, How to Keep Dinosaurs is set up like a stocky, full color, through-thick-and-thin Complete Idiot's Guide to Dogs-type deal,divided up into sections detailing the care and husbandry of various sorts of long-extinct reptiles, complete with silhouettes next to people as a mark of scale (a popular trope in dinosaur encyclopedias) and cheery little icons that symbolize aspects of a particular species's personality, such as whether a dinosaur "likes children" (this is represented by a teddy bear) or "likes children to eat" (another teddy bear, except this one has a bite taken out of it).
This is all supplementary to the main body of the work, which describes how to care for and own one of ~90 or so prehistoric reptiles (they're not all dinosaurs here, folks), structured in a guidebookesque format, complete with computer-generated representations of the beasts. Some even have dog collars or other petkeeping implements. Occasionally, a full page spread shows up, displaying a domestic scene cheerily juxtaposed with pet dinosaurs going about their antics or doing various jobs; there is a scene of a boneheaded Stegoceras acting as a caddy for golf, one of a herd of Diplodocuses crossing a country road in front of a justifiably irate driver, and a personal favorite where a pack of Deinonychuses, clustered around a table with chunks of meat in front of them. Mash states that the species "will only play poker for high steaks."
Such comedy clearly falls under the category of humour with a strong emphasis on the second u. In fact the humour can be so dry, in fact, that it crumbles apart in a fashion reminiscent of a dry piece of toast or a burnt chunk of charcoal when used to describe the lives of the dinosaurs. Some of the dinosaur descriptions do like to fall back on a single joke, i.e. Ornithimimuses are analogues to horses, Nodasauruses are tender but a little bit stinky. This can get old with time, though this book is more of a coffee table curiosity than any serious sit-down reading material.
There are a couple inside jokes for people knowledgeable about paleontology, if that's your province; the places where you can "purchase" them are almost always areas where their fossils were discovered in the real world. Mash is also very comically liberal with his translations of the creatures' names (the mallardesque Anatasaurus's name, meaning "Duck Lizard," is said to derive from "its habit of submerging its fellow dinosaurs in the water." Mash also tries to squeeze his fair share of dirty jokes and innuendoes into the book, usually found under the "mating" section of each creature's description. All of that is probably a parody of pet mating habits, so literally described in many mainstream animal guides, yet it does get a bit old hearing about how fussy dinosaur x can be during copulation for the 50th time. Such jokes could have been done more tastefully and effectively.
Funny memory: when I read this book as a curious little six-year old, I just about asked my mother what the term "rampant homosexuality" meant, seeing as it was used to describe how the pterosaur, Pterodactylus was so difficult to breed. Am I glad I held my tongue and she didn't have to open that can of worms then. Take a page from every kid's movie made now, Mash. Let it go over kids's heads.
Still, this is good fun for those who love dinosaurs and aren't afraid to engage in a little hopeless speculation about how, exactly, one would be able to keep an Oviraptor as a guard dog. Bonus points for the introduction (in the new edition) by Richard Dawkins. In typical Dawkensian fashion, he writes about the natural selection of Mash's humor, before playing along with the dinos-are-real conceit established throughout the book and ending his with a short little jab against his rivals, the creationists. Love him or hate him, the man knows how to keep it engaging.
6/10
November 9, 2021
I used to LOVE dinosaurs as a kid. I first got this book when I was about 9 or 10, at the science museum. I was really excited about it.
Velociraptors were my favorite. Unfortunately, I read the book in order so I didn't get to the offending page until it was already bought.
"They should be kept clear of [livestock] and small people, as they are accomplished rapists."
.....
WHAT!??!
Now, I know it's been republished since 2003 (and this sentence was NOT in the original 1983 version), so please let me know if it no longer appears in the 2020 version. I would really hope that somebody would realize that talking about pets being rapists is not appropriate for a children's book.
It completely ruined my love for velociraptors and dinosaurs in general and I am frankly shocked that I have seen no one mentioning this in any of the reviews. This might be fine for older readers, who may not be so severely affected, but this book was marketed towards children, accessible to children, and sold to children. I genuinely want to know what Mash was thinking when he added this disgusting line.
Velociraptors were my favorite. Unfortunately, I read the book in order so I didn't get to the offending page until it was already bought.
"They should be kept clear of [livestock] and small people, as they are accomplished rapists."
.....
WHAT!??!
Now, I know it's been republished since 2003 (and this sentence was NOT in the original 1983 version), so please let me know if it no longer appears in the 2020 version. I would really hope that somebody would realize that talking about pets being rapists is not appropriate for a children's book.
It completely ruined my love for velociraptors and dinosaurs in general and I am frankly shocked that I have seen no one mentioning this in any of the reviews. This might be fine for older readers, who may not be so severely affected, but this book was marketed towards children, accessible to children, and sold to children. I genuinely want to know what Mash was thinking when he added this disgusting line.
October 30, 2020
Une merveille d'humour et d'érudition ! (par un zoologiste d'Oxford)
Quoi de mieux pour un livre jeunesse que le mélange des dinosaures et d'un certain humour anglais?
Bah, rien.
Five stars rating, go ahead, dudes !
Quoi de mieux pour un livre jeunesse que le mélange des dinosaures et d'un certain humour anglais?
Bah, rien.
Five stars rating, go ahead, dudes !
November 24, 2018
If you love dinosaurs and imagine a world in which they were still alive and lived alongside humans, this book is for you. Presented as a serious guidebook in the vein of a pet or domesticated animal guide, How to Keep Dinosaurs details multiple different species and how they should be cared for. Some dinosaurs are strictly house pets, like the tiny Microraptor or bone-headed Stegoceras, and some are cow-like ranging animals, like Plateosaurus or Iguanodon. Dinosaurs are presented as having many purposes in this world like security, providing eggs and meat, living in zoos, and acting as pets for beginners. This book is a fun read and is written fairly simply. For these reasons, I would recommend this book for older elementary and middle school students who want to look into a fictional guidebook that may get their imaginations going.
September 7, 2024
Good idea, bad execution ( www.amazon.com/review/R1BRQGIJNZWTQH/... ): 1/5
I was originally planning on reviewing Mash's "How to Keep Dinosaurs" (henceforth HK) the way I usually review bad dino books. However, I then remembered that Naish's HK review is so perfect (especially when it comes to criticizing Pixel-shack's digital paleoart: https://web.archive.org/web/201305210... ) that I can't possibly top it, so I won't even try. Instead, in this review, I'll point you to Naish's HK review & add my own thoughts as well:
-I'm surprised that Naish didn't mention Dawkins given that, to quote Naish ( https://web.archive.org/web/201609170... ), "there are good consultants, but there are downright useless consultants". Dawkins may be "an eminent biologist", but he's no dino expert. This is especially apparent in his very pretentious/acidic/inaccurate Forward to HK (E.g. See the Dawkins quote).
-To quote Naish, "the author notes that the book is a practical manual rather than a taxonomic treatise". This is in reference to Mash referring to non-dinos (E.g. Pterosaurs) as dinos. In other words, Mash is saying, "what I'm doing is wrong, I know it's wrong, but I'm gonna do it anyway" ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php... ).
-The only consistently good thing about HK is the paleontology in-jokes: On page 51, it's claimed that "Deinonychus was discovered only in 1969" & that they "play in groups of four"; The 1st quote is in reference to Ostrom 1969 (I.e. "Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus, an Unusual Theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana") & the 2nd quote is in reference to "the Shrine site" ( www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/ma... ). However, to quote Naish, "seeing as few palaeontologists will read this book[...]most of these jokes are going to be missed."
-To quote Naish, HK "could have been a really interesting experiment in the reconstruction of behaviour, and on whatever imaginary perils and pitfalls might befall any attempt to bring dinosaurs into the human world." Personally, I'd love to see an adult book version of Conway's "The Dinosaur Pet Guide" ( http://johnconway.co/dinosaur_pet_guide ) in the style of Conway et al.'s "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals". Until then, the closest thing we have is Bradley's "Care & Feeding Of Dinosaurs", a very good but outdated (E.g. Un-feathered coelurosaurs) children's book.
Quoting Dawkins: "The book can be appreciated on many levels. It is by no means only an owner's manual, though it is indispensably that. For all its sound practical advice, it could only have been written by a professional zoologist, drawing deeply on theory and scholarship. Many of the facts herein are accurate. The world of dinosaurs has always been richly provided with wonder and amazement, and Mash's manual only adds to the mixture. As a theological aside, creationists (now excitingly rebranded as Intelligent Design Theorists) will find it an invaluable resource in their battle against the preposterous canard that humans and dinosaurs are separated by 65 million years of geological time."
I was originally planning on reviewing Mash's "How to Keep Dinosaurs" (henceforth HK) the way I usually review bad dino books. However, I then remembered that Naish's HK review is so perfect (especially when it comes to criticizing Pixel-shack's digital paleoart: https://web.archive.org/web/201305210... ) that I can't possibly top it, so I won't even try. Instead, in this review, I'll point you to Naish's HK review & add my own thoughts as well:
-I'm surprised that Naish didn't mention Dawkins given that, to quote Naish ( https://web.archive.org/web/201609170... ), "there are good consultants, but there are downright useless consultants". Dawkins may be "an eminent biologist", but he's no dino expert. This is especially apparent in his very pretentious/acidic/inaccurate Forward to HK (E.g. See the Dawkins quote).
-To quote Naish, "the author notes that the book is a practical manual rather than a taxonomic treatise". This is in reference to Mash referring to non-dinos (E.g. Pterosaurs) as dinos. In other words, Mash is saying, "what I'm doing is wrong, I know it's wrong, but I'm gonna do it anyway" ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php... ).
-The only consistently good thing about HK is the paleontology in-jokes: On page 51, it's claimed that "Deinonychus was discovered only in 1969" & that they "play in groups of four"; The 1st quote is in reference to Ostrom 1969 (I.e. "Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus, an Unusual Theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana") & the 2nd quote is in reference to "the Shrine site" ( www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/ma... ). However, to quote Naish, "seeing as few palaeontologists will read this book[...]most of these jokes are going to be missed."
-To quote Naish, HK "could have been a really interesting experiment in the reconstruction of behaviour, and on whatever imaginary perils and pitfalls might befall any attempt to bring dinosaurs into the human world." Personally, I'd love to see an adult book version of Conway's "The Dinosaur Pet Guide" ( http://johnconway.co/dinosaur_pet_guide ) in the style of Conway et al.'s "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals". Until then, the closest thing we have is Bradley's "Care & Feeding Of Dinosaurs", a very good but outdated (E.g. Un-feathered coelurosaurs) children's book.
Quoting Dawkins: "The book can be appreciated on many levels. It is by no means only an owner's manual, though it is indispensably that. For all its sound practical advice, it could only have been written by a professional zoologist, drawing deeply on theory and scholarship. Many of the facts herein are accurate. The world of dinosaurs has always been richly provided with wonder and amazement, and Mash's manual only adds to the mixture. As a theological aside, creationists (now excitingly rebranded as Intelligent Design Theorists) will find it an invaluable resource in their battle against the preposterous canard that humans and dinosaurs are separated by 65 million years of geological time."
December 21, 2015
I remember flipping through this book some years ago at a Barnes and Noble and, recently being reminded of its existence, checked it out from the library. It is quite an entertaining read, with its realistic depictions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric lifeforms coexisting with humans in the modern world. The art, computer generated, in spite of being more than a decade old now, holds up surprisingly well, at this book would probably be greatly appreciated by kids and adults alike who might be interested in having a dinosaur as a pet.
Set up as a parody of snooty and overly detailed dog and cat breeding guides, complete with little symbols for particularly messy, fussy, or dangerous species, the humor here is extremely dry and very British, and packs in some surprisingly scientifically accurate depictions of the dinosaurs as well. Whether looking for pet suitable for beginning dinosaur keepers, (compsognathus, for instance), a designer breed (like stegoceras) or something suitable for your country estate (like struthiomimus), in addition to more dangerous breeds suitable for security work (deinonychus) or only the best funded zoos (brachiosaurus). In fact, there might be a bit too much detail, including the various suppliers across the globe where one might procure such beasts. After all, being extinct, dinosaurs do not fall under any exotic creatures laws and thus can be owned without a license.
Set up as a parody of snooty and overly detailed dog and cat breeding guides, complete with little symbols for particularly messy, fussy, or dangerous species, the humor here is extremely dry and very British, and packs in some surprisingly scientifically accurate depictions of the dinosaurs as well. Whether looking for pet suitable for beginning dinosaur keepers, (compsognathus, for instance), a designer breed (like stegoceras) or something suitable for your country estate (like struthiomimus), in addition to more dangerous breeds suitable for security work (deinonychus) or only the best funded zoos (brachiosaurus). In fact, there might be a bit too much detail, including the various suppliers across the globe where one might procure such beasts. After all, being extinct, dinosaurs do not fall under any exotic creatures laws and thus can be owned without a license.
November 17, 2011
[Review based on the Dutch edition]
This is such a fun book to read and to browse through. It's simply what it says on the package: a book on how to keep dinosaurs, and it keeps up this idea of dinosaurs being alive and kept as pets or in the zoo the whole book, even in the final list of what dinosaurs have been found where (as a list of 'you can buy this dinosaur in this country'). A lot of the dinosaurs discussed are illustrated in CG, often photoshopped in their 'natural' environments (such as the Therazinosaurus herding sheep). It's really fun and for the younger (or the young at heart) nice to fantasize about. You get to learn a couple of things about dinosaurs and still have all these silly images and ideas of your very own pet-Archaeopteryx or the dangers of keeping a Tyrannosaurus, and what you should get for food or how to groom your new pet. (Re: the Archaeopteryx, the term 'dinosaur' is pretty loosely applied and also used to mean pterosaurs and the like). Of course, you can also find dinosaurs you can keep for their meat and how you can breed with them.
To be quite honest, it's been a while since I read it and I almost forgot I had it until goodreads came up with it, but I'm certainly going to reread it now, if only to see if I remembered it all correctly (my inner dinosaur freak is showing).
This is such a fun book to read and to browse through. It's simply what it says on the package: a book on how to keep dinosaurs, and it keeps up this idea of dinosaurs being alive and kept as pets or in the zoo the whole book, even in the final list of what dinosaurs have been found where (as a list of 'you can buy this dinosaur in this country'). A lot of the dinosaurs discussed are illustrated in CG, often photoshopped in their 'natural' environments (such as the Therazinosaurus herding sheep). It's really fun and for the younger (or the young at heart) nice to fantasize about. You get to learn a couple of things about dinosaurs and still have all these silly images and ideas of your very own pet-Archaeopteryx or the dangers of keeping a Tyrannosaurus, and what you should get for food or how to groom your new pet. (Re: the Archaeopteryx, the term 'dinosaur' is pretty loosely applied and also used to mean pterosaurs and the like). Of course, you can also find dinosaurs you can keep for their meat and how you can breed with them.
To be quite honest, it's been a while since I read it and I almost forgot I had it until goodreads came up with it, but I'm certainly going to reread it now, if only to see if I remembered it all correctly (my inner dinosaur freak is showing).
Read
August 3, 2011It's funny alright, but it tries too hard and the humour is sometimes sophomoric.
Interesting paleontological fantasy, wherein dinosaur 'facts' are presented in the manner of books on keeping pet animals, supported throughout with modified pictures showing dinosaurs in domestic and other settings. However, it's very difficult to find the facts if you haven't read a few books already. If you were a dinosaur enthusiast as a child, however, or still manage to be a dinosaur enthusiast as an adult or even enjoyed Michael Crichton's dinosaur stories, you should find this book interesting. I've simply found remembering the names enjoyable, even if the silly meanings presented by the author (hoping for a few more grins, probably), takes some of the fun out of discovering the real Latin/Greek meanings.
With an introduction by that great sciency man in Oxford, Richard Dawkins! His is the last word in evolution theory, is it not? Can this book get any better?
Interesting paleontological fantasy, wherein dinosaur 'facts' are presented in the manner of books on keeping pet animals, supported throughout with modified pictures showing dinosaurs in domestic and other settings. However, it's very difficult to find the facts if you haven't read a few books already. If you were a dinosaur enthusiast as a child, however, or still manage to be a dinosaur enthusiast as an adult or even enjoyed Michael Crichton's dinosaur stories, you should find this book interesting. I've simply found remembering the names enjoyable, even if the silly meanings presented by the author (hoping for a few more grins, probably), takes some of the fun out of discovering the real Latin/Greek meanings.
With an introduction by that great sciency man in Oxford, Richard Dawkins! His is the last word in evolution theory, is it not? Can this book get any better?
June 12, 2007
I used this as fluff reading before bed. It straddles the line between amusing and factual... the information is laid out in such a way that you have to believe it's as true to life as we can be sure of, considering the extinct nature of dinosaurs, but the idea of keeping dinosaurs as pets, and the subsequent hints for their care, kept a certain "what if?" spark in my mind. The illustrations were also entertaining, especially the full-page plates for some dinos. Hardly an essential read, but a worthwhile one.
January 2, 2008
A resource of inestimable value for anyone thinking about getting a pet dinosaur for themselves or their children.
Clear, conscise language carefully explains the daily care and management of dinosaurs from the friendliest herbivore to the rowdiest of carnivores. Reader-friendly icons quickly alert the reader / dinosaur-owner to the proper diet and habitat for their pet as well as to how well the particular dinosaur will interact with their children and other pets. Many full color photographs illustrate the fun you and your new pet(s) could soon be having.
Clear, conscise language carefully explains the daily care and management of dinosaurs from the friendliest herbivore to the rowdiest of carnivores. Reader-friendly icons quickly alert the reader / dinosaur-owner to the proper diet and habitat for their pet as well as to how well the particular dinosaur will interact with their children and other pets. Many full color photographs illustrate the fun you and your new pet(s) could soon be having.
October 30, 2016
This is a thoroughly cute book about what is needed to become a dinosaur owner. It's a cautionary tale of sorts, complete with beautiful artwork and a very dry sense of humor. I think children would respond to it fairly well, especially if they are of a paleontological bend.
I just wish there were more feathers on the dinosaurs, and that some of them were rendered a bit more closely to what we now know they looked like...
I just wish there were more feathers on the dinosaurs, and that some of them were rendered a bit more closely to what we now know they looked like...
May 18, 2015
This is the perfect book for customers who want photographs of "real" dinosaurs (but not photos of the geological record). Humorous yet informative. The "photographs" of "live" dinosaurs are terrific! (I am especially fond of the picture of a dinosaur checking out the contents of a refrigerator in search of a midnight snack...)
August 1, 2007
A great book for dinosaur fans... learn interesting facts as you see what it would be like to feed and house these critters today. Funny pics.
November 10, 2009
I loved it! Well thought out and very funny. Could the author please do another for prehistoric mammals maybe...or mythological creatures?
January 4, 2010
Is it possible to keep dinos?
April 2, 2014
A childhood favourite of mine, as I got older I loved discovering additional layers of humour in there as well. A reminder of happy times.
Read
March 25, 2015Cuter in concept than in execution, but my little guy loves the pics.
February 2, 2016
clever humor
October 3, 2021
I now know I can feed my Dino children for breakfast. Good advice.
August 26, 2009
This book is so GREAT, with lots of humor. Everyone in the world should read this. I love it!
October 7, 2017
Absolutely hilarious; a delight for any biology enthusiast, or individual with a good sense of humor!
Note: Reader discretion advised; there are several sexual euphemisms in the book pertaining to the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals to, though they flew over my head when I was a child and prompted no questioning.
Note: Reader discretion advised; there are several sexual euphemisms in the book pertaining to the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals to, though they flew over my head when I was a child and prompted no questioning.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews