Crystal Palace Dinosaurs - in Literature and Popular Culture

In Literature and Popular Culture

In the children's book Dinosaurs Don't Die (written by Ann Coates and illustrated by John Vernon Lord), a young boy who lives near Crystal Palace Park discovers Hawkins' models come to life; he befriends one of the Iguanodon and names it 'Rock' and they visit the Natural History Museum.

The title story in Fanny and the Monsters, by Penelope Lively, is about a Victorian girl who visits the Crystal Palace dinosaurs and becomes fascinated by prehistoric creatures.

In Have His Carcase, by Dorothy Sayers, character Lord Peter Wimsey makes reference to the "antediluvian monsters" of the Crystal Palace.

In Paul Theroux's 1989 novel My Secret History, the novel's narrator, Andre Parent, accidentally learns of his wife's infidelity when his young son, Jack, reveals to his father that he has visited the dinosaurs in the company of his mother's "friend" during Andre's prolonged absence gathering material for a travel book.

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer, by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Brian Selznick, was published in 2001.

Brett Anderson used the line 'So I went and sat in Crystal Palace, by the plastic dinosaurs' on his solo track To The Winter, from his 2007 self-titled album.