Dinosaurs roam the West Milford library
West Milford. Children and their families explored the prehistoric world through music, fossil digs, animated dinosaurs and hands-on activities during the Dinosaurs Arise program at the West Milford Library on July 25.
| 30 Jul 2026 | 01:28
Ben Johnson and Mu Suriyalangka of Dinosaurs Alive lead the children in a dance. (
)
Stevie Donofrio, 3, of West Milford digs for bones as her father, Michael, watches. (
)
Ben Johnson and Mu Suriyalangka of Dinosaurs Alive stand behind three triceratops displays. (
)
Dozens of children and families traveled back millions of years during the West Milford Library’s Dinosaur Arise program on July 25.
The event was part of the library’s Unearth a Story summer reading program, inspired by this year’s national summer reading theme. The program mixes learning with fun while encouraging reading books on the topic.
Led by safari leaders Ben Johnson and Mu Suriyalangka of DinosaursArise LLC, the children enthusiastically danced to music while imitating movements dinosaurs would make. A few inspired parents joined in the fun. Next, they took turns riding three realistic, animatronic Triceratops or feeding them lettuce. The rest of the group became junior paleontologists while digging for and uncovering fossils in many stations found throughout the meeting room.
The highlight of the safari was posing for photos with a 7-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex named Terry the T. rex, who was so tall he had to stay outside on the library’s lawn. The thrilled children got to pet the animated T. rex, who verbally displayed his pleasure at being touched, while family members took photos.
The Dinosaurs Arise program was the third Unearth a Story reading program offered by the library. The other two programs, Reading is Dino-Mite Magic Show and Dino-Hunter Safari Show were presented earlier this summer.
