Right then – who remembers this one? Hopefully quite a few of you, as it was originally published in 1990 in hardback as part of the Young World series, with this paperback recycling appearing in 2000. It may well have been translated into other languages, too (Agata seems to remember a Polish edition). It’s just one of the hundreds and hundreds (probably) of kids’ books about dinosaurs churned out by well-known palaeontologist Michael Benton while on his coffee breaks in…
tyrannosaurus
Graham Rosewarne was an artist whose work greatly elevated my beloved Dinosaurs! magazine (published by Orbis in the 1990s), alongside that by the likes of Jim Robins and Steve White. Unfortunately, books featuring work of his that isn’t just recycled from Dinosaurs! can be a little difficult to come by. I was therefore quite pleased to happen upon The Reign of the Reptiles in The Warehouse Antiques & Collectables while over in Norfolk (a shop we definitely didn’t just visit because it’s adjoined…
We are going to be talking about Dinocon, honest. But until then, here are some of the other illustrations from The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs, first published in 2000 (this edition’s from 2002). In my last post, I looked at some (most, really) of Steve White’s contributions; this time, I’ll be featuring work from (deep breath) John Butler, Chris Christoforou, John Egan, Roger Goode, Philip Hood, Mark Iley, David McAllister, Martin McKenna, Michael Posen, and Tim White. Although because individual artists aren’t…
Vintage Dinosaur Art: The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs – part 1 (Steve White ’90s bonanza!)
Vintage Dinosaur Art August 5, 2025Today’s title is mostly a prime example of late ’90s – early 2000s kiddie book filler, but no doubt thanks to the arcane rules of licensing it manages to feature some interesting artwork all the same. The Ultimate Book of Dinosaurs (not to be confused with the vastly superior DK book from ’93) was first published in 2000 by Parragon, with this edition arriving in 2002. No fewer than 12 artists illustrated this book, but individual pieces are sadly not credited.…
The 1990s was a decade of unparalleled Dinomania; a time where dinosaur books threatened to spill out from bookstores and libraries and bury us all in literary celebrations of prehistoric life. It was a better time. The majority of books published back then were illustrated by artists just didn’t get dinosaurs, and worse still, by artists who just copied the art of whatever dinosaur book they could find at the local library. Patrick O’Brien was no such artist. Gigantic! was…
If one were to follow a single golden rule when traveling abroad, then it would surely be that any opportunity must be taken to visit a park exhibiting model dinosaurs in the woods, so long as it is within a reasonable traveling distance. Naturally, Agata and I followed this important principle when we recently stayed with her aunt and uncle in the city of Toruń, located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (province) of Poland. In the same region of the country,…
Spring has sprung and episode 40 of the LITC podcast arrives! Today, famous palaeontologist, artist and all-around international fabulous guy Mark Witton returns to the show as he geeks out with our own Marc Vincent about Tyrannosaurus rex! Mark’s upcoming new book, King Tyrant, is all about the toothy star from Hell Creek. For Vintage Dinosaur Art, Marc, Gemma and Natee go back to 1950’s Denmark and discuss a rare treat from illustrator Verner Hancke, or rather from Gemma’s attic.…
Hi everyone, and willkommen! Today, we’re in the fine city of Cologne, Germany, and visiting the wonderful Kölner Zoo! I didn’t know this in advance, but it turns out there’s a dinosaur event on this year! What a nice surprise. I check for dinosaur events in my area every year, so it’s extra nice to be surprised every now and again. Oh boy, let’s look at some dinosaur animatronics! I’m excited already. Oh bugger. The banner has an AI generated…
Does the world need yet another book about Tyrannosaurus rex? Mark Witton’s here to make a good case that it does. As one of the best-known and most well-studied of all charismatic Mesozoic dinosaurs (sorry, hadrosaurs), there’s more than enough to say about this infamous species to fill a coffee table book, and such is the ever-changing world of palaeontology these days that there’ll inevitably have been plenty of exciting developments since the last such book came along. Plus, and…
Say “Ladybird dinosaur book” to someone, and they’ll very likely think of the book illustrated by Bernard Robinson that was reprinted a number of times and spanned the childhoods of multiple generations. (Well, at least two.) I reviewed it all the way back in 2011, so perhaps my review is now as nostalgic for some people as Ladybird books are for others. (Nah, just kidding. I’m not so deluded.) Robinson’s illustrations, while technically superb and highly memorable, were looking rather…











