A Year in the World of Dinosaurs review

Phew, sorry for the hiatus folks! I had other stuff to work on (to varying degrees of success), but I'm back and mesozoic Mind is going back to the late 2000s with a picture book about what else? The Mesozoic.

A Year in the World of Dinosaurs is a book by Elizabeth Havercroft and cobsulted on by Bristol's Michael Benton released around 2008 and '09 as part of the Time Goes By series, those picture books from libraries showing timelapses of certain places kids would like. In this case, Late Jurassic US.

We start with a basic introduction. But we can skip it.

The book begins proper with with showing the birth of some diplodocus. Naturally, the coelurosaur Ornitholestes comes to eat them, while Brachiosaurus are nearby. Sounds like a familar setup.... though funnily enough, the open is more akin to what we know sauropods did nest (or at least some, like titanosaurs).

Next, as summer starts and the baby diplos are growing up, though the main focus is directed to a Stegosaurus in battle with a theropod, though rather then Allo we get Torvosaurus. Also, notice the Ceratosaurus fishing. It's a bit of a minor palaeomeme to depict Ceratosaurus as more aquatic or piscivorous then other Morrison theropods thanks to the notorious Bob Bakker, but it is an unproven theory.

Much like in Time of the Titans, we then see a fire, sending dinosaurs stampeding for their lives. It's harrowing and in your face, and you can feel the heat. 

Then comes a drought in the ensuing weeks, and with it the diplos' lowpoint, as represented by an Allosaurus attack. The reddish burnt colourscape is certainly striking and- wait, do the allosaurus have a third horn on them!? What!?

The land floods as the winter rains come and brings plesiosaurs and icthyosaurs to the plains. I consider this the most outlandish portion, not the least because there is no evidence the Morrison flooded like this and brought marine life from what's known as the Sundance Sea there (at least, the ones we can recover). Still, its a cool scene that contrasts with the last spread's reddish colour tone with a glue one, and its always interesting to see marine and terrestrial life interact when both are alive.

Cue Anze Rozman

After the waters recede, there's a fight as the mating season happens. The way the Camarasaurus' neck help frame the fight its a nice touch.

Its nesting season, and Diplodocus lay their eggs. Some are raided by Tanycolagreus, here depicted as long necked generic little theropods since not everyone buys it was a tyrannosauroid. Not memorable as other spreads IMO, though the neck of the frontmost diplo is very good. And is that a baby diplo behind it, or some Nessie wannabe?

The book ends with the Diplodocus for greener pastures leaving as other dinosaurs look at them. Decent sendoff.

The story shares quite a bit Walking with Dinosaurs, from the general species lineup, to plot beats as the diplos grow up, righht down to a wildfire. However, when you have the same source formation, there's only natural there would be overlap.

The designs are nice, if occasionally thin and weird with odd choices (three-horned Allosaurus for example). Most of them are of the post-Paulian era but not from the Awesomebro era underway. The art itself by an uncredited illustrator is digital, and halfway between hard and soft thanks to the shading. I also give props to the use of more obscure taxa kids might not know, like Tanycolagreus.

I don't even need to mention the lack of feathers here. It was evident that not everyone had caught on in the 2000s... though I don't need to mention it.

The text in the main portion is short, just describing what'd happening, while the intro and epilogue... they're just nothing worth talking about.

• Accuracy - 7/10
• Aging - 7/10
• Artwork - 8/10
• Text - 6/10
• Layout - 9/10
• Information - 6/10
• Species Selection - 8/10
• Rereadability - 8/10

A Year in the World of Dinosaurs is good, and mostly holds up. It's a short book with only art to distinguish it, but it work for what it is, a picture book to inspire young readers.

I'm going to college next month, so again I won't be posting as much. Honestly, I feel like this blog is coming to an end. I had great fun, but I knew it was coming. I will try to revive it as soon as I get things done.

Sources/See Also

• Bakker, Robert T.; Bir, Gary (2004). "Dinosaur crime scene investigations: theropod behavior at Como Bluff, Wyoming, and the evolution of birdness". In Currie, P.J.; Koppelhus, E.B.; Shugar, M.A.; Wright, J.L. (eds.). Feathered Dragons: Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 301–342. ISBN 978-0-253-34373-4.