Reviews (1)

Fascinating Facts from 200 million years ago
Although recommended for 8-12 year olds, I found this book interesting and informative as an adult. Visually, this book is attractive with photographs of actual artifacts and drawings. Examples in today's hunter-gatherer civilizations are provided in addition to the historical and archeological information related to the Stone Age. The timelines included are easily read and informative, as are the maps. Most appealing for parents and schools is the inclusion of 15 step-by-step projects which demonstrate the creation of products used daily from this period in prehistory. An index and glossary are included, and chapter headings deal with a single aspect of life at that time, eg. "Shelter," "The Arts," "Warfare and Weapons," etc. ... Read more

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An interesting overview of the Vikings.
The book covers a little of every thing, the viking culturegods and myths, and important vikings, not to forget somehistory. It is full of many colorful illustrations. It does not go into alot of detail. ... Read more

Book Description

On This Spot…

See buildings soar and traffic zoom, a kaleidoscope of color and movement. Now turn the page and time-travel back 175 years, where on the same spot carriages bumped and pigs raced across cobblestones. Turn again and go back 400 years to when a Lenape Indian trail crossed the spot. Now travel farther still, to when glaciers crept . . . dinosaurs preyed . . . a tropical sea teemed with ancient creatures . . . back 540 million years, when rock was all you could see.

What happened on this spot? What will happen next? Look out your window. What happened on that spot?

Reviews (1)

Review ON THIS SPOT
This is the answer to the question that's always intrigued kids: "who was here before me?" Starting with the present and going back to pre-history, the book answers that question with a clear and engaging text. It is also beautiful to look at and would please children of all ages. ... Read more

Book Description

Discover the world of the first people -- from the earliest cave dwellers to the men and women of the Iron Age.

Here is an original and exciting new look at the fascinating world of ancient people and their ways of life. Stunning real-life photographs of tools, weapons, jewelry, clothing and even the remains of the people themselves offer a unique "eyewitness" view of how human life changed during its first four million years. See the tools used by the first farmers, the oldest surviving food, the weapons of a Bronze Age chieftain, and what our earliest ancestors looked like. Learn why humans first stood upright, how people survived the cold of the Ice Age, how scientists uncovered the Piltdown Man hoax, how to make a flint axehead, and which people used magic to find their food. Discover how early people hunted and gathered their food, which people made jewelry out of leopards' teeth and hornets' wing cases, how bread was made in the Bronze Age, how mummies and bog bodies have been preserved, and much, much more! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Get your kids hooked on anthropology
DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful museum-quality photos of all things related to early humans, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about early humans, their weapons, clothes, and food. SEE the objects common to everyday life in the ancient world. Get your kids hooked on history!

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by anthropology and archaeology, then you must introduce them to this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Sometimes it's the imprint of an ancient leaf in a rock. Sometimes it's a woolly mammoth, frozen for thousands of years in the icy ground. Sometimes it's the skeleton of a stegosaurus that has turned to stone.

A fossil is anything that has been preserved, one way or another, that tells about life on Earth. But you can make a fossil, too--something to be discovered a million years from now--and this book will tell you how.

Reviews (2)

A review of the record of fossils for children Ages 5 and up
Fossils tell of long ago is a good book for children.Brightly illustrated pictures help them grasp the facts of fossils.It includes a fun experiment, too, along with a clear explanation of how fossils were made.I give this book four stars.

Aliki's blatant attempt at political correctness.
While this book is still a decent introduction to fossils for children, I'm giving it two stars because it is a VERY different book from the original (published in 1972, I believe) that I read and loved as a child. Ipurchased this version thinking it would be the same as the original(except for the different cover and perhaps some updates to the informationtherein). Well, I was wrong. ALL of the illustrations have changed (NOT forthe better, either, in my opinion). There are now children of every huepictured, and even a black boy in a wheel chair. How nice. This is what allchildren's books of the future will look like, apparently. (Classicchildren's books that don't include pictures of kids from various ethnicgroups will need to be re-illustrated.) Aliki, why did you mess with aperfectly good original?

If you've read the original edition of thisbook, DON'T purchase this one, as I think you'll be disappointed. Searchfor a used copy of the original. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An introduction to the walking tank type dinosaurs
I was surprised that this five title series looking at the Dinosaurs actually devoted an entire volume to the Ankylosaurus, instead of all of the Thyreophorans, which would include the Scelidosaurs and the Stegosaurs. But then I am even more surprised that I have an understanding of the different suborders and infraorders in the dinosaur family tree. However, that is the approach Virginia Schomp takes in these books, which try to provide more of a scientific approach to the study of dinosaurs. There are over a dozen illustrations of various armored dinosaurs as well as a photograph of the fossilized plated skin of one such creature. For each type of dinosaur we learn when it lived during the Age of Dinosaurs, where on earth it could be found, and its relative size and distinguishing details.

Ankylosaurus lived mostly in the Late Cretaceous period, so there is a chapter devoted to the changing world that marked the last great age of the dinosaurs. But most of the book is devoted to the characteristics of these dinosaurs and recreating what their lives would have been like. Other titles in this series look at "Apatosaurus and Other Giant Long-Necked Plant-Eaters," "Triceratops and Other Horned Plant-Eaters," "Tyrannosaurus and Other Giant Meat-Eaters," and "Velociraptor and Other Small, Speedy Meat-Eaters." Together they provide a solid understanding of the five main branches in the family tree of the Dinosaurs and of the scientific study of these fascinating prehistoric creatures. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Kid likes dinosaurs and sharks? Than this is the book.
Most kids have an affinity for dinosaurs and sharks. You see, dinosaurs and sharks don't have to do what anyone is told and if an adult asks them to do their homework, they eat em. With that said, this book is great for the very early Pre-school to second grade readers. More advanced readers will not be challenged by the two sentence per page writing. Much of the artwork is intriguing, using full page watercolor of the prehistoric beast. However, the book devotes many of its pages to other prehistoric animals that are a let-down in a book about huge killer fish. The hardcover book is certainly an early offering of cool.

MEGATOOTH MEANS MEGASHARK!!!
MEGATOOTH is a great childrens book about the most terrifying creature that ever lived. Imagine a Great White shark the size of an adult Humpback whale- weighing 40 to 70 tons having 6 to 7" triangular, serrated teeth and no known predators!! MEGATOOTH describes this frighting animal of the past with paintings done by the author and informative text about how this huge shark lived and what it ate. MEGATOOTH would make a great Birthday or Christmas gift for that young shark lover out there and i can't imagine any little boy or girl who loves dinosaurs not loving this book as well! ... Read more

Book Description

• How did some plant-eating dinosaurs "chew" with their stomachs?
• Which dinosaurs were the best musicians?
• How did T. rex attack its prey?

Dinosaurs were some of the most fascinating animals that ever lived on our planet. Some were huge, and some were tiny; some ate leaves, and some loved to chomp on other dinosaurs!

In Don't Know Much About Dinosaurs, you'll discover dinosaurs that had a thousand teeth, dinosaurs that could run forty miles per hour, and dinosaurs that ate an entire school-bus-sized pile of vegetables in a single day! And you'll learn how paleontologists discovered the most famous dinosaur of all -- the ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.

Kenneth C. Davis brings the great reptiles of the past back to life with his trademark question-and-answer format. Full of cool quotes, fun facts, and detailed artwork by Pedro Martin, the latest addition to the Don't Know Much About® series brings out the paleontologist in everyone.

Book Description

The oceans of the Jurassic world were filled with nightmarish creatures. Plesiosaurs, long-necked reptiles measuring up to twenty-five feet long, ate fish -- and each other. The 40-foot-long Kronosaurus and the 45-foot-long Liopleurodon were ferocious predators with razor-sharp teeth. They ate anything they could catch.

Alongside these megapredators swam Hybodus, whose descendants include the great white sharks of today. Hybodus was not the largest hunter in the Jurassic seas, but it was fearless. Hybodus would attack anything.

This is the story of a female Hybodus and her struggle to survive. She must find a way to keep from being eaten, even as she hunts for food herself. She must fight off a Liopleurodon that attempts to take over her hunting grounds. And she must find a way to keep herself, and her unborn baby, safe in a place where even the deadliest of hunters can become meals for other predators. Discover how she responds to the challenges -- and survives.

Book Description

Which dinosaur is named after a rock star?

Who's the biggest carnivore -- T. rex or Giganotosaurus?

Is it true some dinos could snap their tails and break the sound barrier?

Find the answers inside this fascinating, totally different dinosaur book that features the latest, greatest discoveries from all over the world. ... Read more

Book Description

Put on your warmest parka, grab your time-travel shoes, and get ready to explore the Ice Age! As you step back to a time beginning some 35,000 years ago, you'll not only unearth ancient artifacts and bones and discover incredible works of art, you'll come up with ideas about how our early ancestors might have lived during this fascinating -- and chilly -- period.

As you learn more about the Ice Agers' way of life, you may be surprised by how cleverly they solved their problems. They sewed snug clothing and hunted big game, surviving very well in the icy climate! They also played musical instruments and, most remarkably, invented art.

Unearth their bones, sift through their trash piles, uncover their tools and hearths, delve into the darkness of their caves, and enter the fascinating world of the Ice Age! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

DISCOVER AN EXCEPTIONAL BOOK OF GREAT MERIT!!!
Margaret Cooper has quickened the pulse & deepened the understanding for all of us fascinated by the Ice Age & our earliest human ancestors. In this lush book we can each become Ice Age travelers & prowl the caves, art, tools, & lives of an earlier, more mysterious world. We feel a sense of kinship with our early ancestors & marvel at their endurance & artistic imaginations. This book is certainly an educational tour de force! We are proud to have this in our teaching materials, & appreciate teachers & childrens responses to this valuable book!

EXCEPTIONAL TOUR DE FORCE!!!
Margaret Cooper's latest book is an exceptional tour of the Ice Age, with all of its mysteries & exquisite examples of human art, survival, & spirituality. This is very thoroughly researched & understood! Beautifully written! Beautifully illustrated! This book brings each reader to a new, clearer understanding of how important the Ice Age periods truly were. What a great gift for young minds! I'm eager to see her next book! ... Read more

Book Description

Totally fun, totally imaginative, and totally engaging, the newest title in the best-selling Totally series is Totally Prehistoric Beasts. This captivating activity-based book will provide children with the opportunity to learn as they take part in the world of creatures of the past. Using a hands-on approach that encourages imagination as well as factual learning, Totally Prehistoric Beasts describes life after the demise of the dinosaurs, when prehistoric creatures roamed the Earth for 65 million years. This kit will help broaden kids' understanding of prehistoric times with its 32-page book and snap together parts that make five different prehistoric beasts: Gastornis, Entelodont, Doedicurus, Simlodon, and Wooly Mammoth. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions show how to build actual prehistoric creatures or children can create new creatures with the more than 30 included interchangeable plastic parts. Only real scientists know science can be this cool! ... Read more

Book Description

When did life on earth begin? and What killed the dinosaurs? are some of the tricky questions answered in this new addition to a popular series.With its unique mix of realistic illustration and engaging cartoons I Wonder Why Fish Grew Legs will amaze, amuse, and inspire, while the highly visual format encourages kids to keep reading. ... Read more