Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? I certainly don’t know many children who haven’t gone through a dinosaur phase, and this is a lovely book for anyone fascinated by these prehistoric creatures.

The first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful artwork. Chris Wormell’s illustrations are wonderful, and when you add six impressive pop-up scenes, the dinosaurs really do come to life.

There’s everything from enormous plant-eaters to those rather frightening meat-eaters, along with plenty of fascinating facts about the different dinosaurs, how they lived, and what made them so remarkable.

But here’s what struck me. When we see the words ‘pop-up book’, don’t we automatically think of something for very young children?

And that would be such a shame with this one.

Yes, younger children will love opening the pages and watching the dinosaurs appear in front of them. But there’s also plenty of information for older children who are genuinely interested in dinosaurs and want to know more.

I can imagine a dinosaur-mad young reader spending ages looking at the illustrations, reading the facts, and discovering things they didn’t already know. And let’s face it, some children seem to know more about dinosaurs than the rest of us put together!

I also think this is a book that deserves a place in every school library. Teachers could have a wonderful time sharing the information, and those pop-ups are such a great visual way to keep children interested. Imagine opening one of these pages in front of a class!

And here’s a thought for bookshops. Don’t just tuck this one away with the books for very young children. Put it on display, open up a pop-up or two, and let parents and grandparents see what’s inside. Otherwise, they might walk straight past a book that an older child would absolutely love.

Would I buy it? Definitely, particularly for a dinosaur enthusiast. It’s beautifully illustrated, full of interesting information, and a book that children of different ages can enjoy.

Just don’t let the words ‘pop-up’ fool you. This book has much more to offer than you might expect.