被遗忘的怪兽

by Matt Sewell, 马特·休厄尔, 冯康乐 (Translator)

本书按照动物每个时代进化的轨迹，全面系统地介绍了之前被很多人忽略的史前动物们。书里既有亚欧大陆的猛犸象、锯齿虎这些冰川时代极具代表性的物种，也有美洲大陆的短面熊、美洲拟狮等大型掠食者，每一种动物都详细的介绍了生活习惯和身高体征，同时配备精美的图片，每一副都让人更加直观的感受到动物的鲜明特征。

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Nature, Art, Natural History

96 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2018

About the author

Artist and illustrator Matt Sewell has been described as the Banksy of the bird world. Matt works in a variety of media including T-shirts, posters, interiors, sculptures and walls. He has illustrated for the Guardian and Barbour, amongst many others; painted underpasses for the RSPB; and exhibited in London, Manchester, New York, Tokyo and Paris, as well as being an avid ornithologist and regular contributor to the Caught by The River website (he also designed their logo).

His bird books, Our Garden Birds, Our Woodland Birds, A Charm of Goldfinches and many more, have taken the world by storm. He has also illustrated numerous children’s books including The Big Bird Spot, Dinosaurs and Forgotten Beasts. His latest book for children is Atlas of Amazing Birds.

Matt lives in Shrewsbury with his partner and two children.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. We love animal facts and the prospect of a book about extinct species excited us. Although the facts and creatures featured were interesting, the illustrations were quite plain and lacked detail, in places they weren't very good. Some looked like the illustrator had just lost interest. A pity because otherwise a nice enough book.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This beautifully illustrated book teaches about extinct animals from the ancient past. There are no monstrous lizards or dinosaurs in this book. This is all about other types of mammals, birds, and sea creatures who once roamed the earth. Some are familiar to us, like the woolly mammoth and the sabre-toothed tiger, but most are impressively rare and wild-looking.

The illustrations are soft and colorful, with a gentle and silky style. But I wish there were more detail in the illustrations, and I wish that there were more drawings of each animal. It would have been interesting to compare the bone structure of fossils to the artist's rendition of fur, feathers, and scales. It is very beautiful, but I was hoping for more detail.

As always with these sort of scientific books, I'm put off by the assumption of theories and dates that have not been proven. The author writes about millions of years, as though those dates were established scientific fact. The theory of evolution is also discussed as though it were fact and not theory. It makes me lose confidence in the veracity of the writing when ideas that are not proven are written about as if they were true.

I really love the structure of the book. It has thick pages and rich coloring, with beautiful end papers. This would make a gorgeous gift!

I feel like this would be a good starting point for a child or teen interested in extinct species, so that they could then go on and do some further research. There's not a lot of information in this book, and it leaves me hungry for more material on this subject. It definitely sparks my interest with the wonderful illustrations!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher via Media Masters Publicity in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the book it's very interesting. I really like all the pictures because they don't look too real so they don't give me nightmares! 😄

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that I came across randomly from an author that I am much more familiar with when it comes to books about birds. As such I chose to give it a trial just to see how he works with a different group of animals and also just to see what type of animals that he would include within his book.

Forgotten Beasts was interesting in the fact that Matt Sewell did go outside of the normal perimeters of focusing on those animals that so many of us know or used to know. As such he ignores the dinosaurs but does give some specimens that were alive before them. And although he does focus mostly on different forms of megafauna before proceeding to animals who went extinct during our time there is enough diversity that readers are able to meet new animals on top of the animals that they were already partially familiar with.

What makes this book a bit more unique from his birding books is that each animal is given their own entry with a few sharing with other animals that were quite familiar. Each animal is also given an informational stat introduction before proceeding into the descriptive paragraph(s). Furthermore the author is more into bringing in interactive questions and a bit of pop culture, which I don't really remember with his other books.

To me what makes this book stands out are the illustrations as the author chose to take creative license in the colors that he chose while in many cases sticking with colors that seem much more natural. There were a few that may have seemed questionable but then again what if he was right?

Although not a comprehensive guide to all the forgotten beasts there have ever been there are plenty of interesting animals included to whet the appetite of any reader who is looking to get a toe into the water. Furthermore it will help young readers to be able to observe the world in just how much time has passed between different eras and while in doing so to also see some correlation in which traits become dominant in any given era.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Forgotten Beasts features extinct creatures from Earth's past, using colorful watercolor illustrations to depict their interesting likenesses. These creatures span from the Cambrian period more than 500 million years ago and up to just 80 years ago when the Thylacine (or Tasmanian Tiger) went extinct.

This educational collection shares the size, weight, diet, and time period of each of the forty-five creatures featured, as well as a paragraph or two explaining more about their names, eating habits, and what other species they can be compared to. A lot of these creatures are very similar to animals we thankfully still have around today which makes it easier for little ones to imagine them!

There is a helpful scale of time at the beginning of this book to show us the millions of years between these creatures' existence, as well as a table of contents in case you want to 'time travel' rather than follow the path of time while discovering these 'forgotten beasts'.

This review was originally shared on Lazy Day Literature.

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are plenty of creatures from long ago that we’ve never heard of. This guide comes with a timeline of bizarre creatures, when they existed and even what they may have looked like. Readers can examine colorful illustrations done in vibrant water colors which brings these creatures to life.

The cameroceros, a distant relative of the squid, existed 450 million years ago. It’s protective shell could grow as long s 29 feet. Only one skeleton has been discovered for the longisquana, a reptile that existed 230 million years ago. There is still discussion on what it may have looked like. The procoptodon goliah, looks like a cross between a kangaroo and lion. The megaloceros or irish elk was found east of Ireland, North Africa and even in China. It was large and looked like a giraffe and elk combined

Many of the creatures found in this guide look similar to the animals that rome our planet today. Readers can enjoy learning about the creatures who roamed the earth, what they were and so much more. Parents and teachers can share with kids the amazing beasts.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

45 extinct beasts, many of them huge, all of them amazing. Each 2-page spread contains a large illustration, a list of stats (size, weight, time period, diet) and then a paragraph or two about them. Presented chronologically from 500 million years ago to less than 100 years ago.

The terminology is easily understandable and scientifically accurate. Not overloaded with information, the illustrations are visually stunning and well representative of the animals. I showed Forgotten Beasts to my daughter who works in the paleontology lab at the Natural History Museum of Utah and she was absolutely gushing about it.

For this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com

[Aeicha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stunning look at some of history's more unusual beasts and animals is a wildly captivating page-turner! Readers of all ages will have so much fun learning about each fascinating creature through the easily understood facts. With an awe-inspiring collection of illustrations, so full of color and details, this book will keep readers thoroughly engaged.

[Two BookWorms Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sewell has illustrated each of the 45 creatures depicted and written an explanatory paragraph or two for each one. I really like how he puts their size in perspective for us.

For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s absolutely beautiful, however the text read as tongue in cheek to me which made it feel like fiction and the illustrations promise to be extra colorful, but mostly feel expected.

[Jaslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful and sad (to think of the strange and wonderful beasts that we'll never see again)

[Rū · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting selection of land and sea beast.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating introduction to species of animals that used to walk on our Earth. As a reader, mom, and teacher I immediately enjoyed this book. Each spread includes a synthesized blurb about the animal and a large, colorful illustration that definitely catches the eye. While the book is science-driven, it is written in a way that many different levels of scientific understanding would find it interesting. I also really liked the choice of animals that were included because it wasn’t only animals that people know about already.

Full review: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=1...

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved art and was interesting read