Eight-year-old prospective scientist Jack and his imaginative little sister Annie discover a tree house full of books, the first of which magicks them into the age of reptiles with a friendly Pteranodon they call Henry, a not-so-friendly T. Rex, and a drove of other dinosaurs.
—Michael Main
“Wow,” whispered Jack. “I wish we could go to the time of Pteranodons.”

Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky.

“Ahhh!” screamed Annie.

“What?” said Jack.

“A monster!” Annie cried. She pointed out the tree house window.

Tags

(8)

Variants

(3)
  1. Dinosaurs before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 1992).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
  2. audio reading.
    Dinosaurs before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne, in Magic Treehouse Collection, Books 1–8 (Listening Library, October 2001).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Mary Pope Osborne
  3. alternative title.
    Valley of the Dinosaurs by Mary Pope Osborne (Red Fox, January 2008).
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne

Translations

(25)
  1. Bulgarian.
    Динозаври преди мръкване, as by Мери Поуп Озборн (Арт Етърнал Дистрибушън, 2014).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by Мери Поуп Озборн
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Цветелина Петкова
  2. Chinese.
    恐龍谷大冒險, as by 瑪麗·波·奧斯本 (小天下, 2005).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by 瑪麗·波·奧斯本
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by 周思芸
  3. Croatian.
    Dinosauri prije mraka by Mary Pope Osborne (Izvori Zagreb, 1998).
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Jelena Vidmar
  4. Danish.
    Dinosaurerne kommer! by Mary Pope Osborne (Carlsen, June 2006).
    5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Claes Johansen
  5. Dutch.
    Bij de dinosaurussen by Mary Pope Osborne (Deltas, 1999).
    6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Katrien Bruyland
  6. French.
    La vallée des dinosaures by Mary Pope Osborne (Bayard Éditions Jeunesse, August 2002) [Goodreads lists the publisher of the August 2002 edition as Distribooks, Inc., but based on some ISBN searches, we believe this is a distributor or umbrella company that includes the Bayard Éditions Jeunesse (Bayard Youth Editions). We also saw Bayard listed as the copyright holder for 2002 in a later edition.].
    7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Marie-Hélène Delval
  7. French: alternative title.
    Les dinosaures by Mary Pope Osborne (Bayard Jeunesse, October 2016).
    8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Marie-Hélène Delval
  8. German.
    Im Tal der Dinosaurier by Mary Pope Osborne (Lowe Verlag, January 2004).
    9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Sabine Rahn
  9. German: alternative title.
    Abentuer bei den Dinosauriern by Mary Pope Osborne (Lowe Verlag, August 2015).
    10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Sabine Rahn
  10. German: audio reading.
    Im Tal der Dinosaurier by Mary Pope Osborne (Silberfisch, July 2018) [The audio publisher is Silberfisch, which is an audio label of Hörbuch Hamburg.].
    11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Stefan Kaminski
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Sabine Rahn
  11. Hungarian.
    Dinoszauruszok ​földjén by Mary Pope Osborne (Animus, 2009).
    12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Tényi Zsuzsanna
  12. Italian.
    Dinosauri prima del buio by Mary Pope Osborne (Piemme , March 2000).
    13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by M. C. Pittaluga
  13. Japanese.
    恐竜の谷の大冒険, as by メアリー・ポープ オズボーン (角川, March 2002).
    14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by メアリー・ポープ オズボーン
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by 食野 雅子
  14. Korean.
    높이날아라, 프테라노돈, as by 메리 폽 어즈번 (비룡소, June 2002).
    15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by 메리 폽 어즈번
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by 노은정
  15. multiple languages: bilingual: simplified Chinese and English.
    勇闯恐龙谷, as by 玛丽·波·奥斯本 (Penguin Books, September 2019).
    16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by 玛丽·波·奥斯本
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by 马爱农
  16. Persian.
    عصر دایناسورها, as by مری پوپ آزبرن (آوای اندیشه, 2014).
    17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by مری پوپ آزبرن
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by مریم صالحی
  17. Polish.
    Dinozaury przed zmrokiem by Mary Pope Osborne (Mamania, circa 2016).
    18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Dorota Skowrońska
  18. Portuguese.
    Dinossauros antes do Anoitecer by Mary Pope Osborne (Farol Literario, July 2008).
    19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Luciano Machado
  19. Romanian.
    Dinozaurii vin spre seară by Mary Pope Osborne (Paralela 45, 2013).
    20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Bogdan Chircea
  20. Russian.
    Динозавры в сумерках, as by Мэри Поу Осборнп (Карьера пресс, 2016).
    21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by Мэри Поу Осборнп
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Ирина Ющенко
  21. Serbian.
    Диносауруси пре мрака, as by Мери Поуп Озборн (Лагуна, 2005).
    22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne as by Мери Поуп Озборн
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Милица Цветковић
  22. Slovenian.
    Dinozavri pred mrakom by Mary Pope Osborne (an unknown publisher, 2002).
    23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Martina Gorela
  23. Spanish.
    Dinosaurios al atardecer by Mary Pope Osborne (Atlantida Editorial S.A., March 2002).
    24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Marcela Brovelli
  24. Spanish.
    ¡Que vienen los dinosaurios! by Mary Pope Osborne (Ediciones SM, April 2003).
    25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Macarena Salas
  25. Swedish.
    Dinosaurierna kommer by Mary Pope Osborne (B. Wahlströms, January 2012).
    26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Mary Pope Osborne
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons

Derived Works

(1)
  1. Dinosaurs before Dark: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews (June 2021).