Are you looking for an entertaining and colourful story book to help inspire the next generation of young palaeontologists? With the festive season fast approaching, we recommend “The Plesiosaur’s Neck” written by Dr Adam S. Smith and Jonathan Emmett, with lots of superb illustrations by Adam Larkum, a graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art.

Prehistoric Prose, Puns and Palaeontology

Poppy is an Albertonectes plesiosaur. Her neck is seven metres long! This fun book, aimed at young readers sets out to explore some of the theories put forward by scientists as they attempt to explain why some plesiosaurs had super-sized necks.

The rhyming text bounces along and has been devised to help young readers maintain concentration and attention. Alfie the ammonite and Bella the belemnite accompany Poppy on her quest to solve this palaeontological puzzle and they chime in with cheeky comments as Poppy considers whether her neck can zap predators with electricity, helps her pluck off pesky parasites or allows to sneak up on her dinner.

Highly Praised

In the competitive field of children’s books, “The Plesiosaur’s Neck” has been singled out for praise. For example, shortly after it was launched it was “Children’s Book of the Week” in both Books for Keeps magazine and The Independent newspaper.

“The Plesiosaur’s Neck” was included in Teach Primary magazine’s “Fifty Modern Reads Every School Library Needs” and the book was also a finalist in the Sparks! School Book Awards.

“The Plesiosaur’s Neck”

When this delightful book was first published, team members at Everything Dinosaur had the opportunity to review a copy.

We stated:

“This book combines colourful characters with a cornucopia of fun facts. It is an entertaining exploration of a genuine palaeontological puzzle.”

“The Plesiosaur’s Neck” is suitable for ages 5 years plus, this rhyming picture book has thirty-two pages and is published by UCLan Publishing.

UCLan publishing: The UCLan Publishing Website.

More Books in the Pipeline

Dr Adam S. Smith told Everything Dinosaur that a second publication was in the pipeline, this time the story would evolve around a dinosaur, a tyrannosaur!

Dr Smith exclaimed:

“We’re excited to be working on a follow up book, ‘The Tyrannosaur’s Feathers’, to be published in 2024.”

In the meantime, if you are looking for a children’s book as a gift idea for the festive season, “The Plesiosaur’s Neck” is highly recommended.