The Fossil Girl

By Catherine Brighton

Book Overview

It's 1811. Ten-year-old Mary Anning, her brother Joe, and their widowed mother are eking out a meager existence running a little fossil shop in the seaside town of Lyme Regis. After a storm wipes out most of the shop's merchandise, Mary and Joe begin the slow work of restocking the shelves. They search high and low for fossils, and one day Mary spots a huge eye in a cliff face high above the town. She resolves to bring the creature down e" no matter what the risk. The exciting discovery and recovery of the first complete fossil of an Ichthyosaurus is told in an attractive graphic novel format, perfect for reluctant readers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1845077326
• ISBN13: 9781845077327
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Ltd
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 10.6"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Fossil Girl..Wondrous Discoveries!

I read this book with my six year old daughter and her first grade class. The story is told from the viewpoint of Mary Anning, a young girl, who along with her brother supplemented her widowed mother's income by the selling of "curiousities" which they found on the beach near their home in England. These curiousities turned out to be fossils of dinosaurs. (The book takes place in the 19th century when such things were still not common knowledge). It is a wonderful story simply told with beautiful illustrations. It is simple emough for a first or second grader to read by themselves with a few assists over the "hard" words. It is particularly good because it is also a true story! There is a one page addendum at the end telling the rest of the Mary Anning's life and how she, although never leaving the small village where she was born, became one of the foremost dinosaur experts of her time.