Dragons of the Deep

Title: Dragons of the Deep
Author: Carl Wieland
Major Themes: Dinosaurs, Sea Life, Reptiles, Whales, Sharks, Oceans, Christian Nonfiction, Nonfiction Science, Animals
Synopsis: Simple, interesting text and beautiful color pictures describe many giants who have lived or still live in the sea.

When I found a used copy of Dragons of the Deep available awhile ago, I jumped at the chance to buy this beautiful hardcover book. We enjoyed reading it over the past month, a couple of pages a day, as part of our school morning. I like to read just a little bit from a picture book of history, science, or nature every morning, and Master Books publishes some wonderful books for this purpose. They have a growing number of hardcover full-color books on many topics, all centered around God’s creation and the truth of the Bible.

Dragons of the Deep is subtitled Ocean Monsters Past and Present. Each of these monsters has a four-page chapter. Most of the ones who are described are extinct sea reptiles, such as Mosasaurus (some have been found in a river gorge we have explored!), Kronosaurus, or Styxosaurus. There are long-necked creatures and short-necked creatures, the largest turtle ever known, and sharks that would put the Great White Shark to shame. We also enjoyed learning about the whale shark (which we heard about recently in Kon Tiki) and the Blue Whale. Not all monsters are dead!

Scattered throughout this book are occasional pages with other information. For example, what conditions must exist for fossils to form? Is there any possibility that some of these creatures will be discovered alive today? Each chapter also gives several interesting facts about the creature, including its size and where the fossils have been discovered. There is a picture in each chapter showing a human diver beside the skeleton of the creature. My younger children loved looking at these pictures and exclaiming about how they wouldn’t want to be that close to such a large animal!

This book is very worthwhile to have on your shelf. Any children who have an interest in dinosaurs should be fascinated with it. The pictures are beautiful and the text is very readable.

No warnings!