Dinosaur Picture Books Novels & Stories

“It has dinosaurs.” “Dinosaurs are cool,” I say, following her down a hallway to a room that’s almost as big as my whole apartment. There’s a hand-painted dinosaur mural that covers the walls. There’s also a dinosaur bedspread, dinosaur stuffed animals, and a dinosaur night-light. Down the hall I hear a door opening and then steps approaching.

Adam turned to Sami, “a whole world of dinosaurs.” From the second bag, he produced a massive T-Rex figurine that roared when you pressed its belly, a set of smaller dinosaurs in every color, and even a prehistoric puzzle set. Sami’s face lit up as if Adam had just handed him the moon. “And because I know you love to build things,” Adam continued, pulling out a box, “a dino excavation kit. You dig up bones and put them together like a real paleontologist.” Sami practically vibrated with excitement, hugging Adam hard before tearing into the box.

"Dinosaurs. Because dinosaurs are the most cool." In the store he insisted on pushing his own small cart, selecting each item from his list with meticulous care. Crayons, the twenty-four pack, because more colors meant better pictures. Folders, green and blue, because those were dinosaur colors. Pencils, the ones with dinosaur erasers on the end. And the backpack.

“Thank you.” They stood like that for a long moment, until Emma called from inside. “Keira! Come see!” They pulled apart, and Keira followed the sound of Emma’s voice to a room painted pale yellow, with a bed shaped like a castle and shelves overflowing with books and toys. Emma was kneeling on the floor, a large picture book open in front of her. “This is my favorite,” she said, pointing to a detailed illustration of a brachiosaurus. “He has the longest neck of all. Even longer than Grandma’s.”

"And climbing. And running. And talking." "She talks a LOT," Rowan added. "And what about you, Rowan? What do you like?" "Books. And building things. And dinosaurs." "Dinosaurs are very cool." "Do you like dinosaurs?" Rowan asked, interest sparking in his eyes. "I do. When I was your age, I had a whole collection of toy dinosaurs." "Really? What was your favorite?" "The T-Rex. Because it was big and powerful." "Mine too!" Rowan smiled. The first real smile.

Almost bedtime. As I step out of my office, I hear giggles from the living room. When I turn the corner, I find Collin sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by dinosaur figurines, his T-Rex plush clutched in one hand. His face lights up the second he sees me. “Daddy! Come look!” He waves me over excitedly, pointing at the Jurassic World book spread open in front of him. “Did you know the Brachiosaurus was as big as a house?”

All of that looked very suspicious. I should have known that it wouldn’t last long. “Mommy,” Theo called as he climbed onto his chair for breakfast. “What?” I asked as I served him breakfast. “I think dinosaurs would win against pirates,” he beamed. I blinked. “What?” He bobbed his head. “Mom, they’re bigger.” I nodded, looking away. “It’s a good argument.” The last thing I wanted this morning is to get into another argument about dinosaurs with him. “Yes, mom,” he chuckled.

"You have to see, Mama. He's going to be the scariest T-Rex ever. Even scarier than the one in that movie we watched." Mama stood up and moved his chair closer to mine, sitting right beside me. He was close enough that our legs were touching, and I could feel the warmth of him. It made painting easier, knowing Mama was right there. I picked up my paintbrush and started adding more spikes. Green spikes, because green was a good color for dinosaurs. Mama watched quietly, and every so often I'd look over and see him smiling. "He's very scary," Mama said when I added teeth. "Those are some impressive teeth."

Phoenix muttered. They spent the next hour cleaning up the library and then reading together—not Pride and Prejudice, which was far too advanced for R, but one of his favorite books about dinosaurs and their modern-day descendants. R sat between Rhys and Phoenix on the couch, his small body warm and solid, his voice occasionally chiming in with facts he'd memorized about different species.