Book Review: Dinosaurs to Crochet by Megan Kreiner

If you are not a person who enjoys whimsical crocheted toys and/or dinosaurs, this post is not for you (and that’s okay). But if you do like crocheted toys and/or soft, squishy dinosaurs, well, you need Megan Kreiner’s book Dinosaurs to Crochet (Spring House Press, 2019).

brachiosaurus crocheted stuff toy — Crocheted Brachiosaurus toy from Dinosaurs to Crochet photo ©2019 Danielle Atkins

This book is stuffed to the tiny T-rex arms with adorable patterns of some of your favorite dinosaur species. My personal favorite is the Brachiosaurus, because I was a child when Land Before Time came out and that’s the kind of thing that sticks with you (for anyone not familiar with the movie, the main character, Little Foot, was a “longneck” aka Brachiosaurus).

triceratops stuffed toy to crochet — Stuffed triceratops toy to crochet from Dinosaurs to Crochet photo ©2019 Danielle Atkins

I’m also quite enamored with the Triceratops! I mean, they’re all really great, but look at that cute little triceratops! Don’t you just want to hug it?!

Cuteness aside, this book is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to make crocheted stuffed animals. The instructions are incredibly clear, and there are wonderful illustrations to help you put the pieces together and make sure that each detail, such as Ankylosaurus’ back plate and spikes, are perfectly positioned.

crocheted toy ankylosaurus — Ankylosaurus crocheted dinosaur toy from Dinosaurs to Crochet photo ©2019 Danielle Atkins

The crochet techniques used are very beginner friendly: you’ll need to know how to chain, single crochet, decrease with single crochet, and skip stitches, and that’s about it. Each piece of each dinosaur is made individually, so you will need to sew together the pieces—if you’re familiar with crocheting amigurumi, you’ve got plenty of experience to make these dinosaurs.

Best of all (we’re a little biased), each and every dinosaur is shown crocheted with Berroco Comfort® Chunky! Not only is this affordable yarn very kid-friendly (read: it can go in the washing machine), but it also comes in a wide range of colors, making it an ideal choice to capture the different tones of all the dinosaurs.

You can preview the whole book on Ravelry, which I strongly recommend doing because they’re all so good. Dinosaurs to Crochet is available from the publisher’s website as well as many other booksellers online.