The Complete Guide To Prehistoric Life

by Tim Haines and Paul Chambers

All you really need to know before deciding whether to read this book is that it features more than "100 of the largest, weirdest and scariest animals that ever existed."

There are dinosaurs aplenty, of course -- Watch out! That Torosaurus on page 139 looks ready to spear you! -- but a lot more. Bone-crushing birds, piglike reptiles, whales that walked on land and crocodiles that swam in the sea are just a few of the weird and scary creatures in this fascinating book by two British scientists.

The 350 lifelike (and usually creepy) color drawings will have you ducking for cover. (Yeah, like you could escape the jaws of a shark-eating lizard if it wanted you for dinner.)

Readers up to age 8 might prefer the 12-page "Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs," which leaps to life with incredible pop-ups created by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. Don't get your fingers too close to the meat-eaters as you flip the pages!