Jon Trevelyan (UK)
When you’ve got ever questioned what a penguin’s nice, nice, nice, nice, nice (and so forth, for a really lengthy, very long time) grandparent seemed like, then that is the e book for you. Higher nonetheless, in case you are 5 to 9 years outdated, it’s actually the one for you.
I reviewed the primary version of popup e book this some time in the past (Book review: Prehistoric Pets, by Dr Dean Lomax and illustrated by Mike Love), and this new model, with a cast of new ‘prehistoric beasts’, is perhaps even better. In fact, the popups are wonderful and guaranteed to delight (and educate) kids and adults alike. And it’s certainly a great idea as a Christmas or birthday present.
In this book, palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax (a contributor to this magazine, who is, more usually, up to his elbows in ichthyosaur remains), takes a closer look at seven modern wild animals and, using fossil clues, reveals who their prehistoric relatives were. And he is ably helped out through the artwork of Mike Love, to create a full-colour popup book covering the ancestors of the mighty whale to a tiny dragonfly.
In fact, it’s a clever conceit – to use animals that most children will be well aware of, and then show their ancient relatives. These include elephants (Mammuthus), sharks (Otodus megalodon – more popularly known as the mighty Megalodon), penguins (the 1.5m-high Icadyptes), the Blue Whale (the walking whale, Pakicetus), dragonflies (Meganeura), sloths (Megatherium, which bestrides a gallery in the Natural History Museum in London), and alligators (the monstrous, dinosaur-eating, Deinosuchus). All but the (relatively diminutive, Pakicetus, were large-to-huge (even the penguin and Carboniferous dragonfly), and size always excites. But this will inevitably begin to make youngsters think about more adult, scientific concepts, like evolution, extinction and palaeontology. And who knows where that will lead as they grow older!
Dr Dean Lomax is a presenter and author, and has travelled the world excavating dinosaurs. He has described several new species of prehistoric marine reptiles, but is also passionate about communicating palaeontology to the public. He has presented on TV, including ITV’s Dinosaur Britain.
Mike Love is an illustrator who has worked with major publishers, such as Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Orion and the OUP. He has a degree in Fine Art from the University of Aberystwyth, and seems to love working with imagination and narrative as his guides.
Prehistoric Beasts, by Dean Lomax and Mike Love, Templar Publishing (2023), 16 pages (hardcover), ISBN: 978-180078209.
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