James Gurney

Recently, the United States Postal Service stamp committee invited artist James Gurney, famous for his Dinotopia "RM" illustrated books, to submit design ideas for a new set of U.S. dinosaur stamps. The result was a popular stamp series, released in July 1997, featuring fifteen dinosaurs and other creatures that lived in two North American locations (now Colorado and Montana) during the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras.Children all over the world are fascinated by dinosaurs. Latin scientific terms and names roll off their tongues with an ease that most adults envy. James Gurney: The World of Dinosaurs is an introduction to dinosaurs found in North America. Gurney's playful yet technically accurate paintings portray some familiar dinosaurs as well as some surprising cohabitants of their eras, including Jurassic crocodiles, lizards, and the flying reptiles: pterosaurs! In addition to a fact-filled spread on the creature pictured on each stamp, The World of Dinosaurs includes illustrated sections on the making of the dinosaur stamps, a dinosaur "hot spots" map of North America, dinosaur stamps from around the world, and a summary of the unfolding research into the origins and fate of the dinosaurs and the world they ruled for millions of years.The book closes with a spectacular full-color gatefold of the original Gurney paintings used to produce the stamp series. The lively text by Smithsonian paleontologist Michael Brett-Surman, Ph.D. and his colleague from the University of Maryland, Dr. Thomas Holtz, takes us through the endlessly fascinating world of dinosaurs.