In the Presence of Dinosaurs

by John Colagrande

Book Overview

In a prehistoric journey as close to reality as the fossil trail allows, this field guide creates an intimate account of the parentally attentive, agile ancestors of birds that roamed the earth... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0737000899
• ISBN13: 9780737000894
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Time Life Medical
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.9" x 12.3"

Customer Reviews

Definitely The Greatest Dinosaur Book Ever Written!

Picture, if you will: Packs of tyrannosaurs, thundering across grasslands. A pair of Pteranodons, thirty feet acros, battling over a nesting site. Scores of Elasmosaurus, crawling out of the sea like massive turtles, to lay their eggs. All this and much more come alive with stunning detail in In The Presence Of Dinosaurs. The book is orginized by ecosystems, each chapter covering notable animals in it. My favorites include Wandering Shores, Plains Dominion, and The Glens Of Hell Creek. The earliest come first, and the latest is last. One thing i enjoyed is how some theories, like the dinosaurs being born with feathers but losing them later in life, are so ahead of their time. I think they only proved that in 2005! The ilistrations are incredible. Some hard subjects, like the Phytosaurs in the water at sunset must have been very hard. No matter what anyone says, if you like dinosaurs, then you will love this book.

WALKING WITH A DINOSAUR ARTIST

Gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. Exhilarating. This book is enough to send one running for the thesaurus to find new adjectives to describe it! One of my favorite paleo books to come along these last few years, Larry Felder and John Colagrande have combined to create a truly beautiful book. If you loved "Walking With Dinosaurs" this book is a must-have. In many ways I even prefer it. Whereas the CGI dinos of WWD are pretty amazing there is just something about the touch of a brush to canvas, the interaction between artist and paint that I'll prefer anytime. Felder's images are full of warmth and vitality, almost as though a they are being visualized by a Renaissance artist. The science behind the images is fully 21st century, however. Felder is on the very edge of the new breed of paleo artists who depict dinos as vivid, highly colorful, sophisticated creatures. Whether you prefer your dinos drab or day-glow, however, there is no denying the splendidness of these paintings. As for the text, Cologrande has crafted a wonderful, free-flowing narrative of life in the Mesozoic. As with "Walking With Dinos" (which this book can't avoid being compared to) there is a large amount of speculation involved about the day-to-day details of dino life. But Cologrande obviously placed a high priority upon grounding his speculations in as much solid science as possible. No wild flights of fancy are found here. In fact, in text this book is substantially superior to WWD. As a paleoartist myself I find this book to be a constant source of inspiration and amazement. Jack Horner called it "jet fuel for the imagination." I can't think of a better description. BUY IT!

It`s entirly fantastic! A must-have for the dino freak

This book is a true treasure. I have not heard of Larry Felder before,but he has quickly become my favourite dinosaur painter. The way the book is made is as unique as the paintings. It is not an encyclopedia,but instead a book of wildlife on Earth. The pictures are amazingly detailed and I can see that the animals` shapes and colours are based on carefull studies of real wildlife. For example,the Pteranodons looks and acts like pelicans,as well as the Parasaurolophus are similar to zebras. Most of the meat-eating dinosaurs are feathered and are sometimes similar to birds of prey or lions and tigers. The habitat pictures are among my favourites... Among my favourites comes the triassic chapter,the late jurassic,and the cretaceous chapters of the seas and the dinosaur migrations. I love drawing dinosaurs and when I look at the pictures,I learn to draw such dinosaurs too,although not as detailed as Felder`s. I will also base my story "A Dinosaur Story" on the behaviour and look of the animals in this book. Over all,this is a book that could not be much better. The only thing minus is that I think it is almost too short. A book of 300 pages would have been better and with more artists.

Buy this book!

I have been collecting "dinosaurabilia" for 40 years, including many of the paleontological works of Charles R. Knight, America's first dinosaur painter. The only time I have ever been tempted to add an original painting by any other artist to my collection was when I first saw Larry Felder's depiction of a baby Parasaurolophus a few years ago. "Duckling Bill" is now the centerpiece of my entire "Metropolitan Museum of Mesozoic Memorabilia". Only a handful of artists per century ever burst onto the scene with such imaginative vigor and precision as has Felder. Leafing through this book will make your hair stand on end and a chill run up your spine. At last we know what these amazing monsters really looked like!

Increadible book, AMAZING ART

I LOVE this book. This is the best book on dinosaurs I've seen and both the artwork and text are stunning. I prefer this book to the book version of "Walking with dinosaurs" . All in all a wonderful book for dinosaur and fossil lovers! Trust me, you'll like it!