Atlases of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

The atlas style of book is a relatively popular format for books about prehistoric life, so I thought I'd start this thread for anybody looking for different options in this genre. I happen to have reviewed a few at my blog, Dino Dad Reviews, so I'll include links to them below. Anybody else can feel free to contribute to this thread, even if it's simply to let the rest of us know that a particular title exists!

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Anne Rooney's Dinosaur Atlas is one of the better ones out there, thanks in no small part to James Gilleard's lovely stylized paleoart, but the actual writing is pretty great, too. It's very comprehensive and informative, and I recommend it for all dinosaur lovers of all ages.

https://dinodadreviews.com/2020/04/03/dinosaur-atlas/

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

The Children's Dinosaur Atlas packs a lot of value into its package set, though it's not as informative as the Dinosaur Atlas I mentioned above, and the illustrator places a little too fast and loose with the cartoony dinosaurs for my taste. If you can find it at a decent price, it would be a decent gift for kids, though not of much interest to older paleo fans.

https://dinodadreviews.com/2020/08/30/childrens-dinosaur-atlas/

[Justin_]

This was the first dinosaur Atlas I was aware of, from 1991:



Reviewed here:
https://chasmosaurs.com/2020/04/21/vintage-dinosaur-art-the-great-dinosaur-atlas-part-1/
https://chasmosaurs.com/2020/05/11/vintage-dinosaur-art-the-great-dinosaur-atlas-part-2/
https://chasmosaurs.com/2020/05/28/vintage-dinosaur-art-the-great-dinosaur-atlas-part-3/

I always liked the maps on the endpapars of the Jane Werner Watson and Rudolph Zallinger book, Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Monsters or The Giant Golden Book Of Dinosaurs, depending which side of the Atlantic you lived. They showed where Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs had been found by the 1960s, but vast areas were still blank at that time.

If you like James Gilleard's illustrations in the Lonely Planet book you'll probably like Dieter Braun's in this:



https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781786033284/isbn/Dictionary-of-Dinosaurs-an-illustrated-A-to-Z-of-every-dinosaur-ever-discovered-by-Dieter-Braun.html

They're obviously done digitally but have a nice stencilled spray paint look. However, the subtitle "every dinosaur ever discovered" is certainly stretching things a bit.

[Halichoeres]

I only have one book in this style, and it's the Prehistoric Life Map of the World full of drawings by Hirokazu Tokugawa:



A couple of sample pages showing animals from the region where I grew up:

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I only have one book in this style, and it's the Prehistoric Life Map of the World full of drawings by Hirokazu Tokugawa:

OH, I think I saw you share that before! I need to get this one.

If you like James Gilleard's illustrations in the Lonely Planet book you'll probably like Dieter Braun's in this:

That one has been on my list for a while! I need to get around to that one too.

[HD-man]

Anne Rooney's Dinosaur Atlas is one of the better ones out there, thanks in no small part to James Gilleard's lovely stylized paleoart,

Could be better (I.e. Too much shrink-wrapping & too many pronated hands; The Coelophysis on the cover is an obvious example).

@Justin_

If you like James Gilleard's illustrations in the Lonely Planet book you'll probably like Dieter Braun's in this:

Probably not, given how outdated/abominable they are. The scaly-skinned bunny-handed droopy-eyed Struthiomimus is an obvious example.

[HD-man]

For as long as I can remember, I've never liked dino atlases as they've always seemed like novelty books (as opposed to real actual reference works). Then, I found out about DK's Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life (which is good, but not great, partly b/c of the paleoart) & decided to give dino atlases another chance. I'm glad I did because it led me to Davidson et al.'s World Atlas of Dinosaurs (which does for dino atlases what Holtz's Dinosaurs does for dino encyclopedias: https://www.usborne.com/quicklinks/eng/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&loc=uk&area=G&subcat=GA&id=3053 ). Here are all the editions: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/771338-the-usborne-world-atlas-of-dinosaurs-internet-linked

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

@Justin_

If you like James Gilleard's illustrations in the Lonely Planet book you'll probably like Dieter Braun's in this:

Probably not, given how outdated/abominable they are. The scaly-skinned bunny-handed droopy-eyed Struthiomimus is an obvious example.

I noted the scaly Struthiomimus, I had hoped it was an anomaly. Is it characteristic of the rest of the theropods in the book? 

[HD-man]

I noted the scaly Struthiomimus, I had hoped it was an anomaly. Is it characteristic of the rest of the theropods in the book? 

Pretty much.

[ceratopsian]

I bought the Braun a while ago sight unseen and wish I hadn't. Had it not been for the pandemic, it would have gone to the Oxfam shop.