Here be dragons

Dragon pointed out this article from The Guardian to me:
I told him he should get his own blog but the keyboarding thing is challenging for him.

Frightening new predator found in the homeland of the dragon

"Balaur is a new breed of predatory dinosaur, very different from anything we have ever known," said Stephen Brusatte of Columbia University in New York, co-author of the research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

...

The Romanian link with dragons was perpetuated in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. The character Ron Weasley's brother Charlie worked at the world's largest dragon reservation in Romania."

Dragon is scoffing at the term "mythology" and "legend" in the article.

NonFiction Monday: Uneversaurus

Dewey: 567.9










Uneversaurus: Change the Way you look at Dinosaurs Forever! by Professor Potts, David Fickling Books, 2006

This book uses humor and science to speculate about the coloration and appearance of dinosaurs. What did these creatures look like? That is the gazilllion dollar question and why this clever and insightful book intrigued me. The title itself is a play on words, you-never-saw-us/Uneversaurus...

The opening end papers suggest a colorwheel of dinosaur scales and the first page states the fact that "no human has ever seen a dinosaur." Taking clues from nature, colors and patterns are suggested in the finely drawn and colorful illustrations. Were the creatures camouflaged? Were they patterned with strips or spots?

Speech balloons give the dinosaurs a chance to talk and comment. A double spread coloring pages on the closing end papers, invite the dinosaur lover to color in their own ideas. As a librarian, I like this warning:

"if this book does not belong to you please do not color in this page. It would be a shame to ruin it for everyone else. Instead, photocopy the picture or trace the outline and create your own super-duper-saaurus amargasaurus.

Dinosaur Books

Dinosaurs: the most complete, up-to-date encyclopedia for dinosaur lovers of all ages by Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., illustrated by Luis V. Rey, with contributions by thirty-three of the world's leading paleontologists, Random House, 2007

With a title like that it has to be good.
It is.

This book is for the dino-connoisseur, the tyranno-gourmand, the read-all-about-it-a-saurus. The book covers all things dinosaur from a review of geologic time and the history of fossil discoveries to dinosaur babies and dinosaur dung.
Forty-two chapters and 472 pages examine every branch of the dinosaur family tree.
In-depth chapters on coelurosaurs, prosauropods, tyrannosauroids, ceratopsids, (and the list goes on) are enhanced with colorful illustrations that "flesh-out" the detailed drawings of the skeletons which also accompany the chapter.

Personal essays from 33 paleontologist provide extensions to the chapters. Dr. Scott D. Sampson discusses "Male and Female Dinosaurs--Can we tell the difference?" and Dr. Matthew T. Carrano writes about "Walking and Running Dinosaurs." Dr. Luis Chiappe reviews the origins of birds during the Mesozoic Era. All of these essays are one page in length and very engaging and readable. They bring the scientist to the reader to explain their interests and passion for the subject.

This is NOT an Eyewitness book with different reading levels and distinct blocks of text but the illustrations are captioned and sections are headed in uppercase titles. The text is laid out in two columns with a nicely sized type and good white space.

Extensive dinosaur genus charts at the back refer the reader to the matching chapters. If you know a dinosaur fanatic, this is the book for them.



Robert Sabuda's and Matthew Reinhart pushed the pop-up book genre to a new level with their amazing Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs (2006.) Dinosaurs literally spring up from the pages in this book. Facts and information abound too.




The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Brian Selznick, 2001

This is the true story of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. An Englishman, he was really one of the first paleoartists when he accepted a commission from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to design and build life-sized models of dinosaurs for the opening of the Crystal Palace. He was a fascinating man and Kerley's biographical sketch and Selznick's illustrations make this book a home run in every way.