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How to Keep Dinosaurs
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4 new or used available from CDN$ 25.44
Average customer review:
Product Description
It's funny, its irresistible, it's been a bestseller-and now it's available at an amazing new, low price.
"[A] delightful, tongue-in-cheek guide to the care and feeding of dinosaurs."--VOYA
Congratulations! You're bringing home your very first pet dinosaur. But there's so much to think about. Which dino gets on well with children? What kind of food does it eat (and how can you avoid becoming its meal)? What bed would make it feel completely comfy?
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, this "dino owner's manual" amusingly explains what every human needs to know before adopting a new saurus. Find out what should go into the basic toolkit (a stout shovel is helpful and so are reinforced gauntlets); which species thrive in household life and which will cause BIG problems; and what dinosaurs are just right for circuses and zoos, in security, and for giving eggs and meat. For every dinosaur covered, there's information on feeding, breeding, housing, and availability; maps of where they lived; details on weight and size; as well as other pertinent facts. The illustrations cleverly mix photography and art to bring humans and dinos together for the first time, and show the animals in domestic situations.
This creative and fun approach will stir everyone's imagination, and is surely the most amusing way to learn about dinosaurs ever.
Robert Mash earned advanced degrees in zoology from Oxford University. He lives in a thatched cottage in Dorset, England with his wife...and pet Hysilophodon.
The much-honored zoologist, author, and Oxford professor Richard Dawkins has received, among others, the Royal Society of Literature Award and the Los Angeles Times Literary Prize.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #359134 in Books
- Published on: 2005-02-28
- Original language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 96 pages
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-A highly entertaining satire based on the notion that people keep dinosaurs as pets. The premise is maintained with tongue in cheek from the foreword to closing acknowledgments. In between are more than 50 care guides for various prehistoric reptiles. Starting with easier pets such as "compies" (Compsognathus) and recreational species ("Ornithomimus is a delight to ride-as long you can avoid trotting"), readers learn about the general qualities of each creature as well as feeding, housing, breeding, and availability. Subsequent chapters include flying pets, security dinosaurs, and those suitable for zoos and safari parks, as well as species kept for their eggs, meat, hides, and feathers. DK-style page layouts include inset photos of the dinosaurs, sometimes demonstrating one of their talents, such as the trainable Troodon making toast. Occasional full-page photos are especially funny; one example shows a well-dressed man walking his Nodosaurus with a large shovel prepared for clean up. The physical descriptions relate scientific fact, while the added funny bits often expand on actual characteristics. Mash consistently sticks to his deadpan voice so the frequent jokes stay fresh and unpredictable. Completely new illustrations, a reworked layout, and several new dinosaurs make this is a successful update of the first edition (Viking, 1983; o.p.). Adults might be the most appropriate audience here, given the sophisticated vocabulary and occasional ribald humor. However, older dinosaur aficionados with a taste for irreverence will love it, and it has great potential for booktalking.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Robert Mash read zoology at Oxford and is now head of the biology department at Clayesmore School. He lives in a thatched cottage in the middle of Dorset with his wife, son and three coleophysii.
Customer Reviews
Hilarious...and informative
This book is saving my sanity. Our five-year-old has been obsessed with dinosaurs for so long that we've read pretty much everything you can get your hands on about the beasts. This refreshing and extensive manual has us laughing while reading it out loud over and over again. Our son loves the handy symbol key, which allows him to look up critical traits on each dinosaur, such as which ones "like children," or "like to eat children," or are, alas, "worryingly stupid." He's got it all figured out now, which ones we should get. The photos are great.
Creative amalgam of science and imagination
The book is a humerous mix of pseudo-field guide and dinosaur reference. It's funny and creative with excellent illustrations and imaginative "pictures" of humans interacting with their pet dinosaurs. The Amazon price is too low for this hard back book that would make a great gift for folks interested in dinosaurs and/or just like to laugh. Don't miss this one. I'm buying more to give away to friends and family.
Critical information for the dinosaur owner
"How to Keep Dinosaurs" is a must have for any dinosaur lover, because as the author clearly points out (using a handy graphical directory) some dinosaurs are good with babies and others eat babies, and knowing the difference is both critical and not easily discerned. Moreover, some dinosaurs are, er..., more openly amorous than is generally considered tasteful, and others pass worrying amounts of gas. Still others require government permits, so it is best to check local laws and regulations.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek Robert Mash has produced a book that is always entertaining, but which is also more informative than he would probably openly admit. "How to Keep Dinosaurs" is broken up into sections such as pets, flying dinosaurs and farmable dinosaurs; one might think of these sections as a cross between the groupings at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and those at a state fair. Within each section Mash then presents a variety of dinosaurs, and cogitates on their relative merits and weaknesses. Each one of these dino bios follows more or less the same approach: a derivation of the creature's name (usually accurately translated, but hilariously misunderstood), a general description of breed characteristics, a synopsis of housing/food requirements, breeding possibilities and finally, where to buy the dinosaur if you are interested. As I alluded to above, each dinosaur also comes with handy quick reference icons for such attributes as "worryingly smart" or "picky eater".
While much of what Mash writes is clever fiction, he has generally tried to be as accurate as possible. For example, the smart dinosaurs are generally carnivores, and information about diet and breeding is vague, but will get specific when supported by the fossil record. Furthermore, dinosaurs are always available for purchase where they have been discovered, so Mongolian and North American breeders are heavily represented. It is obvious that Mash didn't pick his dinosaurs at random, but rather tried to make logical choices for his various categories based upon what is know to science. Finally, Mash works in little bits of paleontology's history with such asides as Iguanadons being successfully raised in coal mines in Germany (they were first discovered in a coal mine in Germany).
All that said, "How to Keep Dinosaurs" wouldn't be the book it is if it not for the superb illustrations. Photo-realistic dinosaurs veritably leap of the page and are frequently shown happily frolicking with their owners.
The illustrations will engage any child, but it would be a mistake to consider this a children's book. The writing is well beyond the abilities of an early reader, and the humor, while by no means offensive, is aimed squarely at adults. So, if you are an adult who has never outgrown your fascination with dinosaurs, and who still whimsically ponders how cool it would be to have your own, this is well written and beautifully illustrated book is a must read.
Enjoy!
