My boys have always found dinosaurs fascinating. I never really cared much for the creatures whose names end with “osauras” myself. I guess as a kid…I always figured…they’re dead. What else do I need to know?
As a parent, I have found that reading books about dinosaurs to my kids has been quite frustrating. I never knew how to “edit” the parts where the books talk about “billions and billions of years ago…” I’d always say something lame like, “Well, some scientists believe that dinosaurs lived billions of years ago, but the Bible teaches that the earth really hasn’t been around for billions of years….” And I’d ramble on a bit without having any really good concrete facts to share with my kids.
To which my kids would respond, “Uh-huh. Can you read the one about the T-Rex now?”
Yes, I was so enlightening to my children when it came to the truth about dinosaurs.
The following books have been wonderful resources to help us understand the truth about dinosaurs…and about the “billions of years ago” stuff we face in many of the books we read…
The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible by Paul S. Taylor
Life in the Great Ice Age by Michael and Bevery Oard
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? by John Morris and Ken Ham
Have you read any of these books? Or, have you found other resources that help you explain these truths to your kids (and to yourself)? I’d love to know what has worked for you!
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.
Ken Ham also has D is for Dinosaur. It’s a rhyming ABC book for a very first introduction to dinosaurs. It also has coloring pages in the back (that we photocopied.)
My 3 year old son just took the first book you have listed up to bed with him : )
We subscribe to ‘Creation’ magazine which has helped me to explain these things to my children. Have you seen their webpage? http://creation.com/
We all those books too. I agree with the first commenter, Ken Ham has some great resources for kids. If you haven’t been to the Answer’s in Genesis website, I highly recommend it, they have great stuff for kids and adults!
Toni
I hadn’t really thought about this yet (as my kids aren’t very big). Thanks for highlighting the issue!
We went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. They explain everything about dinos and even how the Grand Canyon was formed from the flood. The best field trip ever!!!
This website has some excellent resources.
http://www.drdino.com/
This is frustrating for me too – great to know that there are books out there like the ones you recommended. I’m trying so hard to help my kids understand the difference between “theory” and “fact”. Most of what’s taught in school (as you know) is just theory. Every chance I get, I point out discrepancies and the Biblical alternatives. My kids get especially excited when we talk about rhinos, turtles, etc. They think of them as “living dinosaurs” ;)
I always change those sentences to a vague, “a long long time ago…” :)
Thanks for the book titles!
Thanks so much for these references. My 8 year old princess will be very happy if I can find these in Australia so she can assure her seven year old encyclopedia reading brother that he should not believe everything he reads. Oh the delight of having such gifted children…..
ah yes, we’ve been talinkg about the sun, and many books say that the sun is billions of years old. right now I just leave that sentence out. when we start learning more about the dinosaurs I’ll have to check these books out. We are big Ken Hamm fans around here for all things creation!
We have those books and love them.
Ken Ham has an excellent DVD set called Dinasours, Genesis and the Bible replete with children’s songs about creation. My children really enjoy it. The part they like is when people say millions of years am encouages us to ask “Were you There?”
This tip couldn’t be better timed! My 6 year old son just asked me yesterday about when the dinosaurs got on the earth and why the books say they didn’t live at the same time as people, but God made the animals and then people. I am going to have to check out these resources!
I ran into the same problems! I guess I just never thought about it much myself until my daughter became obsessed with Dinosaurs. And all the “scientific” books just had to be edited so much. For Christmas my MIL got my daughter several books from the Apologetics Press. One for her now, which is “God Made Dinosaurs”. And a one that will be a little better for her as she gets older, (She likes the pictures now) called “Dinosaurs Unleashed”. I would recommend these books for all those out there who have questions. Even the adults. They have also put out a DVD with info on it. Did you know there are drawings in the sides of caves or mountains out west of what looks like a dinosaur!!! What does that tell you? Amazing! I have included the address for “Dinosaurs Unleashed”. Hope this helps!
http://www.apologeticspress.org/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2_3/products_id/7
We like Dinosaurs Unleashed by Kyle Butt and Eric Lyons. You can get it through http://www.apologeticspress.org in their webstore, but I think that Amazon carries it as well.
I also just say, “A long, long time ago” when I read these books. It gets harder when they can read the books for themselves. My 8 year old and I have had many discussions about the age of the earth. Now that he can add long strings of numbers, I may have to sit down with the Bible and help him calculate the age with the genealogy tables.
Yes we have “Life In the Great Ice Age” and we love it. I have just always told my kids the truth…my kids are in public school and my son will come home and tell me about what they learned in science and how they are wrong and what the Word of God teaches…so even if they don’t seem to be listening to that part of it, they probably are. Be encouraged. My mom also got the magazine “Answers” for my son for his birthday and we love it. It has some really great resources in it along with just being a great resource on it’s own. http://www.AnswersMagazine.com
Your boys would love the Jonathon Park audio tapes. They are excellent! They are full of adventure and tons of information about creation vs evolution with lots of talk about dinosaurs and fossils. My kids and I have learned so much. My husband was even listening to one in the car by himself! I have gotten them through Vision Forum but I think Amazon sells them as well. My kids even ask for them for gifts.
I too love Ken Ham and the answers in genesis site…great info that is easy to understand and helps give you info to stand on when confronted with the billions of years theory….they even have a museum that I hear is amazing!!! I would love to go!!
Thanks for the recommendations! I have to admit I tend to just steer clear of dinosaur stuff because 10 to 1 it will say “billions and billions…” Now that my boy is 6 he’s started picking the dinosaur stuff out himself. I imagine with you having 4 boys there’s no avoiding them.
The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is an excellent resource for parents, students, and teachers.
http://www.icr.org/
Click on “Resources” on their left sidebar and you might find something. Their material can get pretty deep, but they also have literature for children:) Good stuff!
Linda C
We bought the dionasaur mystery one for that very same reason. I remember reading certain books and “editing” them too!
Ooh, thanks for the references. When Lil Major gets older, I’m going to hit you up about these again. I hate the “billions and billions of years” bit in books and everywhere. So annoying when we know the truth. The creation museum is on my list of places to visit in the next few years.
Hello there! I don’t think I’ve ever posted on here before but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and I couldn’t resist not commenting about this post. My daughter is 4 and has the same fascination with the dinosaurs. Luckily she can’t fully read yet so I have, too, “edited” when I read to her. I will definitely be on the lookout for these books at our library. Thanks so much!
Nicole, Columbus, OH
My dad doesn’t believe in dinos at all. AT ALL!! but yep kids seem to love them. try apologetics press . My son gets these magazines called Discovery Magazine- scripture and science for kids- printed by apologetics press- they are great!
we’ve read the first. Our Sunday school class actually studied this for awhile, so we would be better able to explain the truth to our kids. I’m like you. I didn’t know, because I didn’t care. Now, I know how to answer those little boy questions.
(answers in genesis was what we used as study materials)
We are using “What Really happened to the Dinosaurs” this year for school. My 5 yr. old is fascinated with dinosaurs, the other children love them too, just not like GC. I, like you, find it frustrating to have to edit the content, I was so excited about the “What Really Happened…” book!!
Just a question for everyone, and I hope this doesn’t seem inflammatory … Did everyone grow up KNOWING creationism was right? I wasn’t raised in a Christian home and have, as an adult, just begun my walk in the Word. I’m having a hard time reconciling what I’ve always been taught and KNOWN to be right (evolution, science…) with what I want to believe in the Word of God.
Again, I’m not trying to offend anyone, just discuss my struggle.