35 Best Dinosaur Books for Kids

My First Pop-Up Dinosaurs by Owen Davey
WOW! Each page opens to a sturdy, earth-toned pop-up dinosaur. The artwork is gorgeous, and mesmerizing for readers because it POPS! Each of the 15 dinosaur names is written on the bottom right corner of the page as well as a phonetical guide to pronunciation for us clueless adults who don’t know how to say words like Coelophysis. This is one of the best first dinosaur books you could buy a child!

Hello, Dinosaurs! by Sam Boughton
Facts and flaps introduce readers to the coolest dinosaurs and interesting info about each. Dinosaurs like the Diplodocus who was as long as two school buses. Or the Triceratops who had between 400 and 800 teeth. Flaps, fold-out pages, whimsical illustrations, and handwritten text.

Baby T. Rex Finger Puppet Book illustrated by Victoria Ying
Help the blue Baby T. Rex be the biggest, baddest dinosaur ever. She stomps her feet and roars and roars but accidentally wakes up grandma. Whoops. What will Baby T. Rex do now? Well, it’s Baby’s bedtime, so she’ll go to sleep.

Rumble with the Dinosaurs: Discovery Kids Dinosaurs Sounds
Imagine hearing dinosaur sounds. Well, now you can with this fun book!

Stomp! Stomp! by Sebastien Braun
Look under the flaps to find dinosaurs hiding. Find the dinosaur and read along with the noise word — stomp, stomp, munch, munch, roar, roar. Sure to be a hit with dino-loving little ones.

Creature Features Dinosaurs illustrated by Natasha Durley
Colorful pages filled with dinosaurs! For each two-page spread, you’ll be asked to notice a particular feature of dinosaurs like horns, teeth, wings, beaks, armor, and more. Read the question that asks you to differentiate even further such as, “Which animal also has flippers?” or “Which creatures also have a long neck?” The dinosaurs are all labeled.

Tiny Dino by Deborah Freedman
Learn all about the characteristics of dinosaurs as you compare and contrast the little bird’s many features to those of a dinosaur. The story is clever, and the dialogue between the animals is playful and engaging.

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner, illustrated by Ben Clanton
Laurie Berkner’s popular song is now a super cute picture book. As you read the song lyrics, follow along with Dax as he and his friends go exploring, marching, picnicking, napping, and roaring. Clanton’s animated illustrations with cartoon-like dialogue bubbles make these dinosaur friends inviting and friendly. Get ready to sing your way through this delightful book — it’s sure to be a new favorite.

We Love Dinosaurs by Lucy Volpin
We love dinosaurs — tall and small, with gigantic roars and snuffly snores — the book narrates. This is a charming introduction to the world of dinosaurs in gentle rhymes and colorful watercolor illustrations. “We love their spots and zigzags, too. Their colors — yellow, red, and blue.”

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague
You’ll read this aloud so many times, you’ll have it memorized. It’s a silly, very silly look at what good behaviors and not so good behaviors look like using your favorite dinosaurs. The entire series of “How Do Dinosaurs…” is wonderful!

Dear Dinosaur by Chae Strathie, illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne
Max writes the museum’s T. Rex a letter and he gets a slightly rude reply back. Not to worry, Max isn’t daunted. He writes back the T. Rex with more questions and the two begin a pen pal dialogue of funny and entertaining letters, some of which you can lift or open a flap to read. Dear Dinosaur is highly entertaining and engaging — don’t miss this gem of a book.

How Dinosaurs Went Extinct A Safety Guide by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Jennifer Harney
Ready for the cautionary tale of all cautionary tales? At the science museum, the child’s dad explains that the dinosaurs went extinct because they behaved badly –they ran with scissors, jumped on the bed, scratched their bug bites, didn’t wear a helmet, pick their nose…you get the idea. The text is hilarious. The illustrations are, too. Read this uproarious new theory of dinosaur extinction — and see if it makes your wild children behave perfectly, just like the little girl in the story!

In the Past: From Trilobites to Dinosaurs to Mammoths in More Than 500 Million Years by David Elliott, illustrated by Matthew Trueman
Aptly oversized to reflect many of the gigantic creatures within, these poems and gorgeous illustrations celebrate prehistoric creatures. Creatures like the weird-looking dunkleosteus or terrifying yutyrannus. Some of these creatures you’ll know, many will be new. The text is very accessible. Each creature includes their scientific name plus the geologic timeline in which they lived. SO cool, right?

“Meganeura
No birds yet.
Only you in the sky.
Meganeuropsis permiana:
the giant dragonfly!”

Dinosaurs Don’t Have Bedtimes! by Timothy Knapman, illustrated by Nikki Dyson
An imaginative boy tries to school his mother about the dos and don’ts of parenting dinosaurs in this playful story.  (Because everyone knows that dinosaurs don’t take baths or have bedtimes!)

The Wonderous Dinosaurium by John Condon, illustrated by Steve Brown
SO FUN! This boy wants a pet dinosaur from the Dinosaurium. In an introduction to different kinds of dinosaurs, each one he picks, he’s not happy with each. Finally, he settles on a small, cute dinosaur that doesn’t eat as much as some of the others. A turtle!

Mad Scientist Academy The Dinosaur Disaster by Matthew McElligott
In this comic book, Dr. Cosmic is a kooky mad-scientist teacher to an unusual group of students: werewolf, bug-girl, vampire, robot, and others. He takes his students through an interactive exhibit on dinosaurs, but can the students can stay safe? Lots of dinosaur facts throughout.

If I Had a Dinosaur by Alex Barrow and Gabby Dawnay
A young girl knows why having a dinosaur for a pet would be the best. Kids will be sure to nod along at all her reasonable reasons.

If DaVinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold, illustrated by Greg Newbold
Introduce children to great artists like Grandma Moses, Mary Cassat, DaVinci, Qi Baishi, Alma Thomas, and so many more! I adore this book’s engaging illustrations showing the style of each famous artist. You’ll see Degas’ dinosaurs turning pirouettes, Matisse’s colorful paper dinosaurs, Warhol’s dinosaur soup, and even the Dino Lisa. Playful, relatable, and instructive.

I Want That Love by Tasuya Miyanishi
In the harrowing prehistoric world, the Tyrannosaurus believes that the strongest is best. Until when he’s old and wounded, he meets baby Triceratops who show him kindness and Tyrannosaurus shows love in return. This beautiful story will make you think about what is best and kindness to others.

Mamasaurus by Stephan Lomp
Babysaurus can’t find his Mamsaurus so he asks other dinosaurs he meets if they have seen her. The dramatic black background makes the colorful dinosaurs pop in this sweet story about a Mamasaurus who was really there all along. 

T. Rex Generations by Ted Rechlin (ages 8+)
In a graphic novel with realistic, dramatic illustrations, readers follow a T Rex family from the birth of hatchlings all the way to their adulthood, or at least the adulthood of those infants who survive. Life is dangerous even for the top predators — it’s an eat or be eaten world. Kids won’t be able to put down this well-done illumination of the Cretaceous period filled with action and drama.

Magic Tree House The Graphic Novel Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne, adapted by Jenny Laird, illustrated by Kelly & Nichole Matthews (GRAPHIC NOVEL)
Hands down, one of the best graphic adaptations of a novel ever! Even kids who have read the novels before will love rereading the books in graphic versions. In this first story, brother and sister Jack and Annie, find a magical treehouse filled with books. Jack begins a book on dinosaurs when he wishes that he could travel to see them, they do! Annie befriends a flying dinosaur and the siblings help save baby dinosaurs before they return home.

Terra Tempo The Four Corners of Time by David Shapiro, illustrated by Christopher Herndon, color by Erica Melville
I’m over-the-moon thrilled by this comic for kids story! Three friends use a time map to travel waaaay back to the four corners area of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona to the Cretaceous age of dinosaurs but their troubles are more complex than just the gigantic beasts. Unfortunately, they are not the only humans trying to survive. LOVE  it!

Dinosaur A – Z by Roger Priddy
This book is AWESOME — color-filled pages, engaging, and fact-filled. It’s a must-own nonfiction book for preschoolers.

You Can Be a Paleontologist! National Geographic Kids by Scott D. Sampson, Ph.D.
Each section of information begins with a question like “How do you find fossils” then answers the question using text, photographs, and informational insets. Dinosaur fans will be excited to learn how scientists find, store, study, and figure out more about the dinosaurs they study — all from the bones. Clear information with enticing photographs make this an excellent choice for dinosaur and science enthusiasts.

Dinosaurs By the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
Kids love this big, eye-catching illustrated book of interesting facts and figures about dinosaurs. The well-designed layout will appeal to kids who will enjoy the timelines, charts, infographics, and numbers.

Ultimate Dino-Pedia Second Edition by “Dino” Don Lessem, illustrated by Franco Tempesta
What first struck me about this incredible dinosaur tome is the incredible illustrations of dinosaurs that aren’t skeletons. Kids who are interested in dinosaurs can see what they looked like including all 600 of the species in this book. Along with the illustration, each dinosaur page shows how to pronounce their name, facts, and information, often with photo inserts of bones and paleontologist reports.

The back of the book includes a dino dictionary listing names, meanings, geological age, where it lived, fossils, length, and group. It’s incredible!! Kids who love dinosaurs NEED this book. It’s the one-stop field guide to everything dino.

Dino-Mite (Science with Stuff )by Sarah Parvis
Will the fossilized dino poop entice your kids to read this book? It just might help you turn the pages to learn more about dinosaurs. The book is well-organized and informative with full color, glossy pages and kid-friendly layouts making it a good choice for elementary school dinosaur fans.

Dinosaur! by DK
Starting with Triassic life and continuing to Cretaceous and Cenozoic, discover the timeline of the dinosaurs and important facts about each. The photo-realistic pictures will make your children think they’re seeing the actual creature, not just the bones from a museum.

Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist by Linda Skeers, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens
Perfect in every way, this appealing biography recounts Mary Anning’s beach discoveries of the first dinosaur bones –fossilized ancient creatures that no one had ever seen before. Even though women weren’t invited into the scientific community at the time, she continued her exploring and learning. Pretty illustrations and fantastic writing with impressive sentence variety.

Head over to Living Life and Learning for some fun dinosaur dig activities!

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