The secret lives of dinosaurs is an incredibly delightful book about behaviours and stories of dinosaurs, with wonderful and stunning artwork from Nichols (inter alia the dinosaur cloaca, one of my personal favourites).

My wonted experience with non-fiction about dinosaurs is having to look up terminology very often and repetitively, but this book was a great exception. Lomax’s storytelling is very humorous and effortless to read and the phraseology isn’t too complex for a beginner to read and understand without too much struggle.

In his masterfully written book Lomax takes us on an enchanting and engaging journey across different paleontological periods. His insights on these dinosaurs' lives and his own experiences while studying them along with his cheesy dinosaur jokes makes an enthralling read that leaves you with a lot of trivia (perfect for impressing friends and family at gatherings).

I would recommend “The secret lives of dinosaurs” by Dean R. Lomax to a variety of people, for instance nerds of all kinds, but also to anyone who wants to learn about dinosaurs or brag about their knowledge to acquaintances.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and am voluntarily writing this review.

Breathing life into fossil vignettes

If you’re interested in dinosaurs and prehistoric life then you’ll love this book. Dean introduces us to some wonderful fossils and looks at what they can tell us about how they lived and behaved. Each chapter looks at a particular aspect of life such as family and friends, finding food, and so on, through the lens of related fossils. Dean looks at each in turn and works back from the behaviours of living related animals to help interpret the fossils, this makes past life more accessible.

I was enthralled from page one and learned from each vignette. I finished the book having learned a lot and feeling that Dean had breathed life back into these ancient animals enabling me to imagine them when they were alive and integrate them into my mental tree of life.

The Secret Lives of Dinosaurs strikes a cool balance between scientific, evidence-based, critical information and notes and fun secret facts.
The layout and the photographs are excellent.
Overall, this is an engaging book for dinosaurphiles who are of a certain age and upwards to be able to understand the information presented.
The book is accessible, hence this is a wide range of ages, including children whose reading comprehension is up to the level.
As for the illustrations, I cannot say I was a fan. There was certainly an opportunity to make them both realistic and artistic. They fell too distant and not enough magical to me.

Publishing date: 23.09.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

If you like looking at dinosaur illustrations or want a more informal exploration of their lives, you should read this.

The language is easy to understand and written in a more engaging way. Less essay-like, more encyclopedic. I think even young readers from maybe 12-13 could digest this.

We also get stunning artworks from Nicholls. One little piece of worry from me as an aspiring artist in rough times for lots of artists, the cover may raise a lot of eyebrows and make people question if it is AI. I think a lot of the other works could work fine for a cover and create less suspicion. It isn't AI, but has the very common hazy and blurred style that AI seems to enjoy so much.

Giving this 4 stars

When I was a kid, I loved looking at the dinosaur illustrations in my grandpa’s encyclopedia. This amazing book took me back to that moment. Of course, technology has improved so much that most of the information that we have about our predecessors has changed considerably, and Dr. Lomax compiles much of the knowledge we’ve gained in the last few years. By studying fossils and existing animals, he can deduce the daily lives of not only dinosaurs, but many extinct creatures. It is fascinating to know how they reproduced, took care of their offspring, fought, ate and even pooped. Wherever we have limited information, the author is clear about it. He doesn’t shy away from speculation but makes educated guesses. The really cool part is the photographs and reconstructions of what we’re looking at. The illustrations by Robert Nicholls are amazing! The text is approachable, not overly scientific, and understandable for laypeople like me, or even probably younger readers. This is a fresh look into a fascinating subject.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Columbia University Press.

I got the arc on Netgally.

not only was the information in this book very interesting to read about but it wad written in an engaging and fun way. I love dinosaurs and the history of world before humans but I can never keep track of names and specific things. Mixed in with all the facts where a good dose of humor and comparisons to living animals today to make the reading experience fun and easy to get an idea of even if it's about creatures that are long gone. 5 stars

this book was so resourceful and full of interesting information! honestly if you want a book about dinosaurs and to learn something new, i definitely recommend this. it was all very well explained and entertaining, too! as a dinosaur fanatic, i really enjoyed this.