Fwd - new dinosaur book series for schools

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

(Forwarded for Thom Holmes, who is having email/list problems. - mk)
_____

From: tholmes <tholmes@thedeal.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 16:44:08 -0500
To: Dinosaur mailing list <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Subject: new dinosaur book series for schools

We have been encouraged by several people to announce a new book series called 
the "Dinosaur Library" that we've written for middle- and high-school students. 
The first of six volumes became available this month January). Given recent 
questions on the list about finding timely, accurate dinosaur books for 
non-scientists and students, I think that our series might just be the resource 
that many people are looking for. 

I have also arranged a special discount ONLY for dinolist members. If you order 
the book(s) directly from the publisher (Enslow) you will receive a 25% 
discount on the cover price. Details below.

THE DINOSAUR LIBRARY
Six-Volume Book Series from Enslow Publishers
by Thom and Laurie Holmes
Illustrated by Mike Skrepnick
Consultant: Dr. Peter Dodson

My wife, Laurie, and I wrote the series. Peter Dodson was the scientific 
consultant and made significant contributions to the direction, accuracy, and 
balance of the volumes. Mike Skrepnick has done ALL of the
illustrations, excepting any photos that I have included. His artwork includes 
many new illustrations.  We also drew upon personal communications with many 
paleontologist acquaintances to verify facts and ideas. Although the reading 
level is geared towards middle school and high school, the series is also 
appropriate for teachers and parents wishing to catch-up on the world of 
dinosaurs.

We tried very hard to write the series so that it doesn't talk down to students 
while at the same time explaining some of the complex concepts associated with 
paleontology and "how we know what we know" kinds of issues.

We used scientific language in abundance. Each book also includes a set of 
historical milestones in the discovery of each family of dinosaurs as well as 
an up-to-date list of all known genera for a given group. The book includes 
extensive scientific citations--we really approached the project as a series of 
scientific papers for kids. An important goal of ours was to represent both 
sides of any controversy so that a student could begin to understand how 
science works and that the detection and correction of error are vital parts of 
science.

This is the kind of book series that a student will want to read AFTER going to 
the encyclopedia or seeing a television special about dinosaurs. Each book 
covers the origins, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, feeding habits, offenses 
or defenses, and other details about the given dinosaurs of each volume. The 
opening of each book includes a fictional story about the dinosaurs at hand and 
the rest of the book is used to substantiate the assumptions behind the fiction.

The titles and availability dates for the six books in the Dinosaur Library are:

--Meat-Eating Dinosaurs : The Theropods (Jan 2001)
--Gigantic Long-Necked Eating Dinosaurs : The Prosauropods and Sauropods (Mar. 
2001)
--Peaceful Plant-Eating Dinosaurs : Iguanodonts, Duckbills, and Other 
Ornithopod Dinosaurs (April 2001)
--Horned Dinosaurs : The Ceratopsians (June 2001)
--Armored, Plated, and Bone-Headed Dinosaurs : The Ankylosaurs, Stegosaurs, and 
Pachycephalosaurs (Jan. 2002)
--Feathered Dinosaurs--The Origin of Birds (Jan. 2002)

Each volume is a little over a hundred pages long. The covers are color. The 
inside illustrations are black and white.

Because the series will mostly be distributed directly into school libraries, 
people on the dinolist are not going to find it in bookstores. However, they 
CAN order it from Amazon.com and soon on BarnesandNoble.com. However, through a 
special arrangement with Enslow Publishers, I have been able to get a 25% 
discount off of each title for members of the dinolist. So, instead of paying 
the list price of $20.95 per title, the dinolist member price is $15.71, not 
including shipping. If you are interested, here is how to order:

Identify yourself as a dinolist member and reference my name (Thom Holmes). 
Then, please note the following ordering information.  

website:        www.enslow.com
toll-free phone:        1-800-398-2504
list price:     $15.71 (discounted from $20.95)
discount:       25% off list
shipping:       exact UPS charge (no handling fee)

Thanks so much to all of you.

--Thom Holmes
dinosaur author at large
126 Dodd St., first floor
Weehawken, NJ 07087
201-348-6352
e-mail: tholmes@thedeal.com