Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals - Story Snug
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Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals by Camilla de le Bedoyere, Rob Colson, Elizabeth Gray & Steve Kirk

Dinosaurs, their origins and how they became extinct have not been topics that we’ve discussed much in our house but that changed when we started reading Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. This fascinating, beautifully illustrated book is packed full of information and my daughter has been very keen to show the book to friends and visitors.

Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals first takes us back 3.5 billion years and shows the very first life forms followed by early land animals. Then come the dinosaurs! Beautifully illustrated double page spreads include information about dinosaurs’ diet, height, weight, body shape and scientists’ thoughts and opinions about how dinosaurs may have lived.

A simple index and a more informative glossary are included which are great for introducing children to looking up specific information and also reinforcing the concept of alphabetical order. The glossary explains words that have been used in the book in a simple way that a child of any age can understand. My daughter learnt the meaning of the words ‘carnivore’, ‘herbivore’ and ‘extinction’ but I also learnt some new words – Ornithischian (bird-hipped dinosaurs) and Saurischian (lizard-hipped dinosaurs). A timeline shows how our planet changed and developed between the Triassic and Cenozoic ages, which dinosaurs and birds lived during particular ages and how the dinosaurs became extinct.

The easiest way to describe the wonderfully informative, double page spreads is to show you one! Many of the dinosaur’s skeletons are shown with lots of interesting information about the dinosaur and the time that it lived. On this page we learn that Ornitholestes was a hunter, possibly hunting as part of a pack. Its tail was more than half the length of its body and its hands had two long clawed fingers and one short. The illustrations are clear and bold and information is given in bitesized chunks of text which makes it accessible to even the youngest readers. We love the dark blue cover with its gold embossed writing, the range of dinosaur skeletons shown invite all dinosaur enthusiasts to open the book to learn more.

Dinosaur - Story Snug

I asked my daughter what she had learnt after reading this book;

  • Dinosaurs eat stones to help mush up the food in their stomachs.
  • Dinosaurs became extinct when a meteorite collided with the earth and the Ice Age started.
  • A Diplodocus was as long as the width of five houses in our street (30 metres).

We were so amazed by the size of some of the dinosaurs in the book that we decided to go out and measure how big they were in comparison to our street. Armed with the book, some chalk and a metre stick we first guessed how long the dinosaur was before measuring and we were stunned to discover that Diplodocus was two thirds as long as our street. We were soon joined by other curious children who, despite not understanding English, also enjoyed looking through the book and measuring with us.

Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals would make a great addition to a school library. It’s a fantastic book to use as part of a classroom topic about dinosaurs from reception upwards.

Authors: Camilla de le Bedoyere and Rob Colson / Illustrators: Elizabeth Gray and Steve Kirk

Thank you to publisher QED for sending us a review copy of this book. It is amazingly informative and has sparked some interesting discussion and lots of learning in our house.


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20 responses to “Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals by Camilla de le Bedoyere, Rob Colson, Elizabeth Gray & Steve Kirk”


  1. Cheryl Carpinello avatar

    Going on my To Buy list! Dinosaurs is my 6-year-old grandsons favorite right now. Thanks for sharing on the Kid Lit Blog Hop!


    1. Catherine avatar

      This would be a perfect present for a six year old dinosaur lover ๐Ÿ™‚


  2. Cathy (MummyTravels) avatar

    What a stunning book – my daughter loves dinosaurs and while this is a bit advanced for her for now, I can imagine her loving it in a couple of years. #triedtested


    1. Catherine avatar

      It is stunning, the dark cover with its gold embossed writing just invites you in ๐Ÿ™‚


  3. Coombe Mill - Fiona Cambouropoulos avatar

    I do love a book that is educational in an interesting to learn way. Love it


    1. Catherine avatar

      What’s nice is it is a pick up and dip into book, great for the coffee table ๐Ÿ™‚


  4. Maria @ Surburban Mum avatar

    This looks like a great book – my eldest loves dinosaurs and would love this. #TriedTested


    1. Catherine avatar

      We weren’t particularly interested in dinosaurs until now but this book has really sparked our interest ๐Ÿ™‚


  5. Cathy Glynn avatar

    This sure looks a great book and it’s really good to get outside like you did as it makes it even more real. I love the illustrations.


    1. Catherine avatar

      It was fun finding out how long the dinosaurs were, as well as being absolutely fascinating!


  6. fashion-mommy avatar

    That is a stunning book – really informative and with a great range of illustrations.

    #Tried/Tested


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s brilliant and the illustrations are awesome!


  7. Emma avatar

    Wow this looks lovely, I think I could learn from this book , let alone my little ones x


    1. Catherine avatar

      I learnt lots, it’s full of fascinating facts ๐Ÿ™‚


  8. Ali Chapman avatar

    I don’t think you ever grow too old to read about dinosaurs, this is a great starter for kids. Ali from Mum in a Nutshell guest hosting for #PoCoLo


    1. Catherine avatar

      I have learnt more about dinosaurs from this book than I have learnt previously, although I have taught dinosaur topics at school! I’m always fascinated by how big dinosaurs were!


  9. Kim Carberry avatar

    What a great book….Very educational but fun too ๐Ÿ˜€ x


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s brilliant and so well laid out that you don’t have to trawl through loads of information to find what you are looking for.


  10. The Reading Residence avatar

    This does look good. My daughter’s just been learning about dinosaurs in school and we’re taking her to the Natural History Museum over the summer for her to get an idea of the size and scale, this book would be a lovely addition x


    1. Catherine avatar

      I like the fact that this book is suitable for a five year old, also great for an older child but equally fascinating and informative for an adult. Definitely a good book to consolidate learning ๐Ÿ™‚