We are surrounded by dinosaurs! They're everywhere — museums, movie theaters, television and, yes, even books.
The North American Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point — as well as myriad other museums across the country — offers a glimpse of the prehistoric beasts.
If we could hop a plane to Chicago's Field Museum we'd be astounded by the most complete T. rex skeleton known to man. Her name is Sue, and she is — without a doubt — the archaeological find of the century.
This summer, Disney released "Dinosaur," which is still playing at local theaters, and earlier this year, "Walking With Dinosaurs," which aired on the Discovery Channel, was billed as "the biggest thing on television in 200 million years." With a $9.6 million budget and interest throughout the world (52 percent of the British viewing audience saw it on the BBC in October) there is little wonder that the companion book became a best seller over night.
"Walking With Dinosaurs: A Natural History" (DK Inc./ The Discovery Channel) re-creates the age of the beasts through photographs and computer graphics in 228 pages. This compendium traces the dinosaurs from the Triassic period (220 million years ago) to the "death of a dynasty" in the late Cretaceous era (65 million years ago) with various theories of extinction being delineated.
The book — as well as the documentary — brings the dinosaurs to life. One example is an animated two-page color spread of a young Leaellynassaura being fed by its mother. In subsequent pages, the baby is nurtured by its scaly-skinned mother. It may not be a pretty sight, but it's a loving one!
Examples like this has drawn criticism that "Walking With Dinosaurs" makes no distinction between facts and conjecture, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of children of all ages.
If that wasn't enough, DK Inc. has published paperback activity books equipped with 3-D glasses, stickers and a journal.
Books about Sue are sure to be hits with young readers. "A Dinosaur Named Sue: The Story of the Colossal Fossil," (Scholastic), recounts Sue's discovery in the hills of South Dakota to her unveiling at the Chicago museum. The effective color photos show the team with their hands in dirt, molding clay and piecing the smallest and largest bones together. In one photograph, five Field Museum scientists appear to be swallowed by the huge skull and jaws.
Younger children may enjoy a mouse-eye's view of the museum in "The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue" (Scholastic), as a tiny creature accompanies the bones to the museum and watches the fossil's preparation.
Poems to celebrate this wonderful exhibit can be found in a book and audio CD called "Dinosongs."
The ultimate book on dinosaurs is David Lambert's "DK Guide to Dinosaurs" (DK Inc.). Packed with mind-boggling dinosaur facts, records and timelines, this guide features species from Barosaurus to Tyrannosaurus and many of the latest discoveries. True to DK's reputation for careful planning and research, this is a book the whole family will enjoy.
"Dinosaurs at the Ends of the Earth" (DK lnc.) is a fictionalized account of Roy Chapman Andrews's fossil-hunting expedition in Mongolia. For older readers, Andrews' life is detailed in National Geographic's "Dragon Bones and Dinosaur Eggs," by Ann Bausum. Both are good reading with lots of adventure.
Here are some more books for readers with "dino-mania":
"Did Dinosaurs Live in Your Backyard? Questions and Answers About Dinosaurs" (Scholastic)
"The Most Amazing Dinosaur" by James Stevenson, (Greenwillow)
"How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" by Jane Yolen (Blue Sky/Scholastic)
"The Dinosaur's New Clothes," by Diane Goode (Blue Sky/Scholastic)
"Dinosaur!" by Peter Sis (Greenwillow)
"The Biggest, Baddest, Strangest, Fastest," by Howard Zimmerman (Atheneum)
"Dinosaurs Forever," poems by William Wise (Dial)
E-MAIL: marilou.Sorensen@.worldnet