To the point I'd even call it the "dino kiddie industry." I know this is popular in North America, Australia & Japan, I can't say if this is popular in other areas of the world.
So my question(s): Were dinosaur toys/ books produced after the first recorded discovery in the early 1800s? If not, when did they start becoming popular with children?
I ask because I have two young children and it seems from Barney to the Dinosaur Train to Dorothy on The Wiggles, the children's entertainment industry focuses on dinosaurs greatly.
Anthropologist/zoologist Desmond Morris hypothesized that small children like huge animals as they represent parents to them. He says that as children get older they like smaller animals as they start to see themselves as the parents/care takers.
Not sure if this has been refuted since then. It's been 20 years since I read Morris.
As to a source, it was either The Naked Ape or The Human Zoo. Source two: Daughter loves Dinosaur Train.