SOLVED. 1980s-90s Kid's series about moral teachings explained via various dinosaurs. [s]

[Csilcsalpfuzike]

So I remember reading a series of children’s books in my old grade school days that had an interesting premise and fun illustrated pages. It was two children (at least) who would visit an old paleontologist who would end up teaching them morals based on the new dinosaurs he would discover. I think he was the kid’s grandfather but I am not fully certain. In any case they would go see him and he would have something unusual that got the kids to ask him more about it. Usually it was either a fossil or an ancient artifact and he would explain what it was to the children and what the dinosaur was like in their prehistoric era. I don’t remember the names to the dinosaurs but they usually sounded related to one of the Seven Deadly Sins they alluded to like the Greedy dinosaurs had greed in their name for instance. The dinosaurs also were more cartoony and fantastical than realistic because they had traits and did things that were more human like in their part of the story. In particular the two books I remember had them wearing the equivalent of ancient clothes.

Not sure if it was a Christian religious focused series per say, as I don’t remember if they specifically said anything like ‘God wishes you to avoid doing this and be good’ or the like. If it was it probably brief. It probably was more like ‘Book of Virtues’ than ‘Vegetales’ in that regard; just teaching a young child about what bad qualities might lead to. This was shown in the parts about the Dinosaurs as they always alluded to how by falling into a particular Deadly Sin it would lead to their species’ extinction.

I only remember two of these particular dinosaur stories to provide some context. I infer there are at least Seven Books for the Seven Deadly Sins as the two I remember are for Greed and I think Pride. Spoilers ahead for sure but they are essentially moral endings you could probably see coming.

The one I remember most is the Greed story. In it the old man showed the children these golden eggs he discovered. The children were definitely amazed but he then told them about the dinosaurs that laid them. They were these green Pteranodon type that were decorated in jewelry they wore. They had gold necklaces, rings. And I think piercings. Their most valuable treasures were their gold eggs as they would keep everyone away from their nests. Unfortunately, due to stashing all the rare and shiny things they collected with their eggs which were naturally heavy, their nests collapsed and fell into the nearby river. The Greedy Dinosaurs dove in after them, but because they wore all these jewelry and decorations they all ended up being weighed down in the water and drowned. Thus their species went extinct.

The other story I think involved Pride. I definitely remember it being a goofier premise than the last story. For the kids come across the old man in what they first think is a prehistoric hot air balloon. Only on closer inspection it’s revealed to be a large set of ancient shorts/trunks that is being used. Apparently the dinosaurs in this one had the ability to inflate themselves to larger sizes. I’m pretty sure that it became a matter of pride over which member of their species was the biggest. That and I think it was a point that the clothing like the trunks were a sort of limiter on not getting too big for them. That and a way to keep them weighted down and grounded as they inflated with a natural helium or something like it. I don’t remember if they all wore them or if females wore something different. What I do recall is that eventually their size competitions finally got out of hand to the point they burst out of their clothes and they all ended up floating away into the sky. It’s implied that they went extinct because of either being unable to come back down or floating into space.

[Csilcsalpfuzike]

I think the Pride dinosaurs were purple triceratops like dinosaurs. Although I don’t remember if they had horns but I am pretty sure they had the flat crest-like head shape.

[Rainbowheart]

Fossils Family Tales?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/1873...

Everything a Dinosaur Could Want appears to be the first book.

[Csilcsalpfuzike]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Fossils Family Tales?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/1873...

Everything a Dinosaur Could Want appears to be the first book."

Alas no. As charming as this series looks, I remember a different illustration style. Plus I remember a big part of these books was the humans were discussing these dinosaur tales.

[Csilcsalpfuzike]

It's been identifed as:

"Uncle Alphonso and the greedy green dinosaur" by Jack Pearson.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Csilcsalpfuzike. Thanks for the update. Here's the link - Uncle Alphonso and the Greedy Green Dinosaur by Terry Pearson.