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Make-a-saurus: My Life with Raptors and Other Dinosaurs
Here's an exciting new approach to the realm of dinosaurs. World-class dinosaur sculptor Brian Cooley takes kids on a journey into the recent past, when dinosaurs were thought to be cold-blooded, lumbering, solitary creatures. As Brian explains, paleontologists went on to discover new fossils that proved dinosaurs were lean, swift and gregarious. This shift in viewpoint was dramatic, but today there is an even more radical development: the overwhelming evidence indicates that some dinosaurs were feathered, the ancestors of avian life as we know it today.
In Make-a-saurus, Brian reveals just how paleontologists were able to establish that some dinosaurs had feathers. Then he shows how he builds his own feathered model. First, he gathers all the information he can about how the dinosaur looked, beginning with the skeleton. The next step for Brian is creating a rough sketch of the creature, before moving on to shaping the model and applying the fine details. Photographs taken during each step of the process enable children to see a life-like dinosaur model grow before their eyes -- one that recently appeared in National Geographic.
In the last section of the book, Brian adapts his professional model-building for children, telling them how to construct their own dinosaur -- feathered or rough-skinned -- with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, using inexpensive, easy to find materials like wire, tape, papier mache and even dryer lint! Brian brings a light, bright touch to the instructions, so children can truly enjoy creating a dinosaur of their own -- one that can be handled and played with, not just shelved.
"If you want a dinosaur to look as if it could walk right off the pedestal and bite you, you would hire Brian Cooley." (Chris Sloan, Art Director, "National Geographic")
In Make-a-saurus, Brian reveals just how paleontologists were able to establish that some dinosaurs had feathers. Then he shows how he builds his own feathered model. First, he gathers all the information he can about how the dinosaur looked, beginning with the skeleton. The next step for Brian is creating a rough sketch of the creature, before moving on to shaping the model and applying the fine details. Photographs taken during each step of the process enable children to see a life-like dinosaur model grow before their eyes -- one that recently appeared in National Geographic.
In the last section of the book, Brian adapts his professional model-building for children, telling them how to construct their own dinosaur -- feathered or rough-skinned -- with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, using inexpensive, easy to find materials like wire, tape, papier mache and even dryer lint! Brian brings a light, bright touch to the instructions, so children can truly enjoy creating a dinosaur of their own -- one that can be handled and played with, not just shelved.
"If you want a dinosaur to look as if it could walk right off the pedestal and bite you, you would hire Brian Cooley." (Chris Sloan, Art Director, "National Geographic")
- GenresDinosaurs
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2000
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 9, 2024
How to REALLY build a dino ( www.amazon.com/review/R3PD2BYTU5ANKB/... ): 5/5
Short version: Cooley/Wilson's "Make-a-saurus: My Life with Raptors and Other Dinosaurs" (henceforth Life) may be the best children's dino book when it comes to showing kids how to build a dino. I recommend reading Life in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved" in general & Chapter 3 in particular).
Long version: Read on.
This review's title is a reference to Horner/Gorman's "How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever" (which, to paraphrase Kosemen, should've been called "[How to build a] sort of dinosaur look-alike retarded monstrosity").* Point is, to quote Willoughby ( https://emilywilloughby.com/about ), "paleontology is unique in that there is no equivalent method of using film to capture the reality of its natural subjects[...]we must paint, sculpt and draw to bring these animals to life." Life may be the best children's dino book when it comes to showing kids how to do that. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why I think that is.
1) As you may remember, Life was 1 of the books that got me into feathered dinos, along with Sloan's "Feathered Dinosaurs". Cooley's life-like models of feathered dinos are 1 of the main reasons why that is (See reason #1: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3481738493 ).
2) Life provides a lot of background info. This is especially apparent in the introductory section: 1st, Currie explains why art is important to his science (See the Currie quote); Then, Cooley explains why science is important to his art (See the Cooley quote); Last, "The World of Sinornithosaurus" tells a day-in-the-life story of the Sinornithosaurus specimen Cooley's model is based on; More specifically, it tells a story of how said specimen lived, died, & became fossilized.
3) Similarly to Gardom/Milner's "The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs", Life uses a "popular approach[...that...]not only accurately mirrors the methods used by [paleoartists in creating] dinosaurs, but also satisfies the overwhelming curiosity of people to know what dinosaurs were like when alive" ( www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-History-Muse... ). This is especially apparent in the main sections: 1st, Cooley explains the paleoartistic process without dumbing down; Then, Cooley shows readers how they can adapt said process using tools & materials around their house (E.g. Instead of beginning "with a welded steel armature," they can make an armature using "rolled-up newspaper, wire, foam and tape, even balloons"); Last, Cooley shows readers how they can go 1 step beyond & create dino environments (I.e. Dioramas, which are the best dino exhibits).
If I could, I'd give Life a 4.5/5. My only gripes are a few weird bits in the text (E.g. Dino scales, which are non-overlapping, are compared to lizard scales, which are mostly overlapping) & writing (E.g. Liaoning is misspelled as Laioning). However, for the purposes of this review, I'll round up to 5/5.
*Google "Is it Possible to Re-Create a Dinosaur from a Chicken?"
Quoting Currie: "Even with all my training and experience, I still learn a lot when Brian asks me how the bones of a skeleton actually go together. Often we end up pulling bones out of the Museum's collections so we can consider how they fit together and how the muscles were attached. Most people can learn more by building models than by just looking at museum displays and books."
Quoting Cooley: "Life takes us in marvelous directions and, as luck would have it, the first job I found upon graduating from art school was sculpting a volcano for the Calgary Zoo's new Prehistoric Park. That led to making a dinosaur for a company in Vancouver. My wife, artist Mary Ann Wilson, worked on that dinosaur with me, and since then we have completed many dinosaurs together. While doing research for that project, Mary Ann and I met Dr. Philip J. Currie, who was soon to become one of the world's most prominent paleontologists. It was Dr. Currie whose enthusiasm and riveting stories about new discoveries and theories rekindled my passion for dinosaurs. Twenty years since that meeting, I'm still making dinosaurs".
Short version: Cooley/Wilson's "Make-a-saurus: My Life with Raptors and Other Dinosaurs" (henceforth Life) may be the best children's dino book when it comes to showing kids how to build a dino. I recommend reading Life in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved" in general & Chapter 3 in particular).
Long version: Read on.
This review's title is a reference to Horner/Gorman's "How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever" (which, to paraphrase Kosemen, should've been called "[How to build a] sort of dinosaur look-alike retarded monstrosity").* Point is, to quote Willoughby ( https://emilywilloughby.com/about ), "paleontology is unique in that there is no equivalent method of using film to capture the reality of its natural subjects[...]we must paint, sculpt and draw to bring these animals to life." Life may be the best children's dino book when it comes to showing kids how to do that. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why I think that is.
1) As you may remember, Life was 1 of the books that got me into feathered dinos, along with Sloan's "Feathered Dinosaurs". Cooley's life-like models of feathered dinos are 1 of the main reasons why that is (See reason #1: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3481738493 ).
2) Life provides a lot of background info. This is especially apparent in the introductory section: 1st, Currie explains why art is important to his science (See the Currie quote); Then, Cooley explains why science is important to his art (See the Cooley quote); Last, "The World of Sinornithosaurus" tells a day-in-the-life story of the Sinornithosaurus specimen Cooley's model is based on; More specifically, it tells a story of how said specimen lived, died, & became fossilized.
3) Similarly to Gardom/Milner's "The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs", Life uses a "popular approach[...that...]not only accurately mirrors the methods used by [paleoartists in creating] dinosaurs, but also satisfies the overwhelming curiosity of people to know what dinosaurs were like when alive" ( www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-History-Muse... ). This is especially apparent in the main sections: 1st, Cooley explains the paleoartistic process without dumbing down; Then, Cooley shows readers how they can adapt said process using tools & materials around their house (E.g. Instead of beginning "with a welded steel armature," they can make an armature using "rolled-up newspaper, wire, foam and tape, even balloons"); Last, Cooley shows readers how they can go 1 step beyond & create dino environments (I.e. Dioramas, which are the best dino exhibits).
If I could, I'd give Life a 4.5/5. My only gripes are a few weird bits in the text (E.g. Dino scales, which are non-overlapping, are compared to lizard scales, which are mostly overlapping) & writing (E.g. Liaoning is misspelled as Laioning). However, for the purposes of this review, I'll round up to 5/5.
*Google "Is it Possible to Re-Create a Dinosaur from a Chicken?"
Quoting Currie: "Even with all my training and experience, I still learn a lot when Brian asks me how the bones of a skeleton actually go together. Often we end up pulling bones out of the Museum's collections so we can consider how they fit together and how the muscles were attached. Most people can learn more by building models than by just looking at museum displays and books."
Quoting Cooley: "Life takes us in marvelous directions and, as luck would have it, the first job I found upon graduating from art school was sculpting a volcano for the Calgary Zoo's new Prehistoric Park. That led to making a dinosaur for a company in Vancouver. My wife, artist Mary Ann Wilson, worked on that dinosaur with me, and since then we have completed many dinosaurs together. While doing research for that project, Mary Ann and I met Dr. Philip J. Currie, who was soon to become one of the world's most prominent paleontologists. It was Dr. Currie whose enthusiasm and riveting stories about new discoveries and theories rekindled my passion for dinosaurs. Twenty years since that meeting, I'm still making dinosaurs".
May 29, 2019
Though the book is eighteen years old it embraces the now accepted evidence that birds evolved from certain lines of dinosaurs. In 2000, this line of reasoning was only about ten or so years old and was only just starting to gain wider acceptance in paleontology circles.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...
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