Dinosaurs Walked Here and Other Stories Fossils Tell

by Patricia Lauber

Book Overview

Discusses how fossilized remains of plants and animals reveal the characteristics of the prehistoric world. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0027545105
• ISBN13: 9780027545104
• Release Date: August 1987
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Not a stroll in Jurassic Park

This little book (56 pages with an index) will make you think. The book seems to target young readers, high school age, but adults can benefit, too. Two things impressed me. First, the vast ages (thousands to hundreds of millions of years) of life on the planet, and our little flicker of 75 plus years compared to that. Second, the fact that paleontologists, and other scientists, are only making educated guesses about most of what they suppose happened during those past eons. Though she does not emphasize the point, Lauber makes it clear through her phrases, that scientists are only proposing hypotheses about dinosaurs. These phrases are such as, "Other paleontologists agree...." "Perhaps further digging will settle the question and tell more about these big dinosaurs..." "Earth scientists now think........." Clearly, much of what is purported to be true in this field is based only on still questionable hypotheses. This is another thing I learned from this little book. Paleontology, the study of old things, is a field that may not appeal to too many people. Sure, people like to imagine dinosaurs roaming around, fighting each other, chasing people in a Flintstonesque or Jurassic Park world, because then it has some relevance to their worlds. Mostly, however, the world of dinosaurs seems to have little relevance to today's world. To her credit, Lauber does not try to dramatize the dinosaur world, as Hollywood has done. But maybe she should have, to make it more interesting? As described in this book, the field is stable, about like the moving continents, which she describes in the last chapter. The continents are shifting on their tectonic plates at a rate of approximately one inch a year. The back cover of the book tells us that Lauber won several awards for a 1987 book she wrote about volcanoes. She won awards from the American Library Association and the 1987 Newbery Honor Book award. "Dinosaurs" was written the same year, 1987. Now, what I'd like to know is, "What kind of people actually do become professional paleontologists?" That is relevant, is it not? Diximus.

Wonderful Book

This book is very well written and covers the subject of fossils in wonderful manner. The information is precise and on target. In addition, this book is loaded with a great number of excellent photgraphs, many of which are in color and illustrate the text perfectly.I can only say its a shame this book is out of print!!