Of the books I bought some years ago when my son was of the 'dinosaur'
age, the best, in my opinion, was "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Dinosaurs" by David Norman (Crescent Books/Salamander Books 1985). I
don't know if this one is still in print, but in a quick glace at Books
In Print I did notice that David Norman has authored a number of other
books, including more children oriented ones.
A couple things that I like about this particular one are:
- it devotes quite a bit of space to illustrating the skeletons, not just
the less certain 'live' paintings. Also many pictures of actual fosils,
both as found and as mounted.
- there are enough pictures to be of interest to kids while still having
substantial reading for adults.
- it discusses the controversies (posture, physiology, end) and how they
are studied (with illustrations from the author's specialty, the iguanodon).
- evolutionary issues are not highlighted. There are no attempts to make
philosophical statements about man's evolution or destiny. The focus is
on the animals and what we can deduce about them.
Paul Jacobson