Top products from r/Dinosaurs

Gregory Paul's Field Guide to Dinosaurs is pretty big and scientifically accurate for the most part. Some of the length is just brief descriptions of dinosaurs, however, and I wish it went into more depth.

I'm a big fan of Mark Witton and hope to order Recreating an Age of Reptiles soon. For some reason Amazon says it isn't out yet, but it was published a while ago. I find that Witton always does very meticulous research and does a great job of acknowledging and explaining disagreements. While not about dinosaurs, his book Pterosaurs is my favorite paleo book of all time. I love the artwork and it's clear that he has a real passion for these animals. He really goes into detail about different groups of pterosaurs, too. I felt like I learned a lot about pterosaurs reading the book and it really made me excited to read anything else he has written. His blog is also fantastic if you are looking for something to read!

As far as up-to-date, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs was just released and seems really interesting. It's has less of a textbook/encyclopedia feel than the other books I've recommended here and it seems like it might follow more of a narrative compared to the others which jump between types of dinosaurs. I haven't read it but I've heard good things and am excited to read my copy soon.

This is probably your best bet. There is a lot of literature out there on this, but just to name a few sources:

UCMP Berkley has a pretty decent overview.

If you can get a hold of it at your local library, The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert T. Bakker helped popularize the notion, and his prescience may help you out a bit. It's dated, but the chapter on dinosaur-bird similarities holds up pretty well today.

Tom Holtz's Dinosaurs has a couple chapters detailing metabolism and bird evolution that should pretty useful.

Finally, there are a lot of paleontology blogs out there written by working paleontologists that talk about this subject in great depth. Use Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings as a starting point then search for your desired subject using the search box, and for more simply check out the links to the right of the page to go to other fairly reputable sites.

Happy homework!

My favorite book is definitely Dr. Holtz's Dinosaur Encyclopedia; it's geared towards a high school level, but I know professional paleontologists who use it, it's just an awesome book.

The next step up is The Complete Dinosaur. It's a solid book, technical, but not as highly praised as ...

The Dinosauria

The Dinosauria is the gold standard, but it's incredibly dense. My best suggestion though is to read primary literature about subjects/clades that interest you. Google scholar is pretty useful for this, although paywalls will be an issue off-campus

Hey! I get what you mean!
I have this quite big book titled "Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart. It includes all of the most respected artists in the industry and some of their finest work. If you really want to enjoy some amazing dinosaur art (and yes, actual art) then I suggest you to get this book.

Also thank you for mentioning Tuomas Koivurinne. Always great to see fellow finns mentioned around the world.

Last month while finishing up a Yellowstone vacation, I stopped at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT. (Sorry for the potato quality of some of the photos - I always struggle taking handheld pictures with no flash in low-light conditions.)

I was extremely impressed by the their dinosaur collection - the Triceratops collection was particularly amazing.
I've lived on the East coast all of my life, and between the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, the Smithsonian and Yale's Peabody museum, I've been spoiled by world-class dinosaur collections. Even so, the Museum of the Rockies did not disappoint - it's definitely worth a visit.

EDIT: I should mention that I particularly wanted to see the museum's Triceratops fossil collection after reading about it in Brian Switek's recent book, My Beloved Brontosaurus. Triceratops has been one of my favorite dinos since I was a kid (I'm sure everyone can remember seeing pictures of a T-Rex / Triceratops faceoff from a childhood dinosaur book).

The dramatic shape changes that Triceratops' frill and horns underwent as it aged were fascinating - I'd love to know the reasons for the them, especially how the two top horns changed direction from pointing upward to downward.

I haven't read it yet, but I've heard My Beloved Brontosaurus is pretty good.

If you want novels, Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and Lost World are pretty good. Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World is also an interesting read, if you can get past the dated English.

I don't know if you're looking for graphic novels as well, but Age of Reptiles is amazing. It has no dialogue and the art is gorgeous. There's also Dinosaurs vs Aliens another just really fun book.

Also, looks like I'm going to be looking some of the reccomendations in this thread up myself.

Depending on his interests, here are a few options:

• Model dinosaurs: There are several companies that sell accurate scale models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life; Safari LTD and Collecta are two of my favorites. Beasts of the Mesozoic are some slightly higher-end poseable raptor models.
  
• If you think he'd be interested in a print of professionally-made dinosaur art, a couple of paleoartists whose sites I could find are Emily Willoughby and Mark Witton.
  
• If he might be into stickers, shirts, or other assorted dinosaur-themed merchandise such as mugs or phone cases: Permia sells shirts, stickers, and cards. Some paleoartists have Redbubble pages or similar. A few I recommend looking at: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
  
• If you think he'd be interested in scientifically accurate plushies, Palaeoplushies might be worth looking at.
  
• Books: There are a wide variety of paleontology-related books. Depending on what he's read, and what he's interested in, here are a few possibilities:
  
  • Books about prehistoric life (mostly dinosaurs) in general:
    
    • Pterosaurs by Mark Witton
      
    • A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and Other Winged Dinosaurs by Matt Martyniuk
      
    • The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
      
    • The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory Paul
      
    • Dinosaurs: How they Lived and Evolved by Darren Naish and Paul Barrett
      
  • Books about paleoart:
    
    • Extreme Dinosaurs 2: The Projects by Luis Rey
      
    • The Palaeoartist's Handbook by Mark Witton
      
    • Recreating an Age of Reptiles by Mark Witton
      
    • All Yesterdays by John Conway, C. M. Kosemen, and Darren Naish

Look for Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology.

Awesome graphic novel about Cope and Marsh. About 98% accurate, but the writer actually details what changes he made at the end of the book, something I've never seen in this sort of adaptation.

The cover is awesome, too. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Sharps-Cowboys-Thunder-Lizards/dp/0966010663/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381429284&sr=1-4&keywords=cope+and+marsh

Check out the Far Seer series. Seriously an incredible read and it is not only about dinosaurs, but a great scifi series that incorporates some interesting themes.

Wiki Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-Seer

Amazon Source:
http://www.amazon.com/Far-Seer-Book-One-Quintaglio-Ascension/dp/0765309742

GO GO GO GET IT!

I've really enjoyed Dinosaurs by Dr. Holtz et al., especially because the authors do their best to publish free supplementary material & corrections online.

Mr. Rey's Illustrations aren't everyone's cup of tea, though.

Dinotopia is 100% mandatory. The pulpy kids' paperback novels were also great, when I was a kid.

THIS MOFO : gorgeous art, very immersive, I got it when I was in kindergarten so it left an impression.



For older kids (violence warning) there's always Age of Reptiles

To be entered to win a copy of Farseer, please reply to this comment with your answer to the following question:

If dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct and had instead kept evolving to the point of sentience (not unlike our own), which species do you think would have made it to the top?

I'm currently reading this one http://www.amazon.com/Pterosaurs-Natural-History-Evolution-Anatomy/dp/0691150613/ It is more of a in depth book and specifically on pterosaurs but I find it highly entertaining in writing and pictures as well.

That was a great book that I also highly recommend. Some other suggestions:

https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-How-They-Lived-Evolved/dp/1588345823


https://www.amazon.com/Pterosaurs-Natural-History-Evolution-Anatomy/dp/0691150613


https://www.amazon.com/Sauropod-Dinosaurs-Life-Age-Giants/dp/1421420287/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1421420287&pd_rd_r=V3DPH072M1JZWPGQW7JN&pd_rd_w=gjt7n&pd_rd_wg=no70V&psc=1&refRID=V3DPH072M1JZWPGQW7JN

I don’t know if this is exactly on point but The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs is a great starting point.


https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Dinosaurs-History-World/dp/0062490427/ref=nodl_

Here's a decent graphic novel about it:

https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Sharps-Cowboys-Thunder-Lizards/dp/0966010663

But the real deal is this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Bonehunters-Revenge-Dinosaurs-Fate-Gilded/dp/0618082409

I've read both a couple times, love this subject.

I loved Prehistoric Life. It's an encyclopedia but I read it in its entirety. It has extensive dinosaur coverage but also covers other prehistoric life which is also very interesting in its own right. It is very up to date.

I think that My Beloved Brontosaurus by Brian Swiftek is a really great book as an introduction to dinosaurs. It goes into the history of the bone wars, the dinosaur renaissance and the differences between dinosaurs in pop culture vs the current scientific evidence. I think it should be on the sidebar for sure.

Boom, found it. Thanks so much!!

[for anyone else who's interested. ] (https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Fantastic-View-Lost-Era/dp/0553013351)

A bit more suitable for younger audiences might be Tom Holtz's Dinosaurs, which is pretty nice (albeit slightly out of date).

EDIT: other recommendation would be Greg Paul's Field Guide.

One of my favorites has been The Complete Dinosaur. It has everything from introduction to the history of dinosaur discovery, to morphology, ecology, behavior, evolution, etc. I found it to be fairly approachable, but still scientific enough to serve as a good educational resource.

All Yesterdays is pretty darn cool.

[Bones of the Earth] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0380812894?pc_redir=1407391407&robot_redir=1) by Michael Swanwick.

My all-time favorite science fiction novel.

John Conway's Leaellynasaura art is one of my favorites. Honestly, it's worth checking out the whole book it's from, All Yesterdays, which isn't necessarily full of completely out-there interpretations of dinosaurs, but refreshing ones.

How old is the kid you're getting the book for? Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved is very new and up-to-date, but is probably not ideal for very young kids. Maybe like 11ish up?

I use to bring a book about dinosaurs to school every day. Something like this. I read whatever version I had cover to cover hundreds of times.

I see you like Dinosaur Fiction, if you haven't go get a copy of "Bones of the Earth" by Michael Swanwick

Bones of the Earth https://www.amazon.com/dp/0380812894/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Wge4ybDEBYZW4

I’m a fan of this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/069113720X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520221912&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=princeton+dinosaurs&dpPl=1&dpID=510YxguboxL&ref=plSrch

Last time I asked this question I was directed to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Complete-Up-Date-Encyclopedia/dp/0375824197

It's a 2007 publication...there may be something more modern out there now. But it seems really informative and comprehensive to me.

I know of a few books that might suit your needs pretty well. The DK Prehistoric Life Book is a pretty massive tome with info on loads of different dinosaurs and prehistoric plants and animals. There's also the Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs which is just about dinosaurs and is more sciency looking, but its more quantity over quality when it comes to dinosaur descriptions and the writer has some odd theories about Dinos that he injects here and there.

*ninja edit

I'm in the same boat as you and have been researching on Amazon. So far I've come up with:

http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Field-Guide-Dinosaurs-Guides/dp/069113720X

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Prehistoric-Animals-Smithsonian-Handbooks/dp/0789493616/

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Complete-Up-Date-Encyclopedia/dp/0375824197/

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Concise-Natural-David-Fastovsky/dp/052171902X/

Here is the mobile version of your link

http://www.amazon.com/All-Yesterdays-Speculative-Dinosaurs-Prehistoric-ebook/dp/B00A2VS55O

Here’s one: Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved https://www.amazon.com/dp/1588345823/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3kSZDbEF9ENGD

http://www.amazon.com/Tyrannosaurus-Colors-May-Vary-Green/dp/B000KO7QK8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377208881&sr=8-2&keywords=t-rex+papo

That last book, the encyclopedia is a bit outdated now. There's a new version out.

This is the second edition.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Dinosaur-Second-Life-Past/dp/0253357012/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536367661&sr=1-1&keywords=the+complete+dinosaur

This is what you seek: Age of Reptiles Omnibus, Vol. 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1595826831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UatMBb2NT092D

Made my imagination go wild as a kid. A little gruesome though. Might wanna give it a one over before letting the kid read it.

How about this one?

I don't know if there's a newer edition available, 2007 seems awfully old in this field. :D

I still need to grab that one! The other standard is Dinosaurs

C'mon, OP. The artist is Julius Csotonyi. The image is included in The Paleoart of Julius Cstonyi.

This one? http://www.amazon.ca/Dinosaur-Art-Worlds-Greatest-Paleoart/dp/0857685848

He also wrote an excellent book on pterosaurs too

It's a childrens picture book, but Dinosaur for a Day is incredibly illustrated, immersive, straightforward day-in-the-life-of book about hypsilophodonts. I gotta dig out my copy!

Here's one of the pages