The Fossil Girl: Mary Anning's Dinosaur Discovery

by Catherine Brighton

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 --- 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.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Dinosaurs, Nonfiction, Science, History, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although generally speaking, the comic book format of Catherine Brighton's The Fossil Girl works surprisingly well (with realistically expressive illustrations that manage to show both the grandeur and potential dangers of Lyme Regis, of coastal Cornwall, as well as the large size of the so-called dragon in the cliff, the fossil discovered and unearthed by Mary Anning and her brother Joseph), combined with a sparse narrative that reads engagingly and evocatively, personally, and from a purely academic and intellectual point of view, there are two absolutely glaring factual faux pas contained in The Fossil Girl which prevent me from giving more than a two star ranking at best (a high two star ranking to be sure, as I have indeed enjoyed much of The Fossil Girl, but I am simply unable and unwilling to round up to three stars, as blatant and avoidable mistakes in non fiction geared to children really does tend to make me livid).

For one, why is Mary Anning depicted by Catherine Brighton as being both taller and obviously also quite a bit older than her brother Joseph, when in reality, she was actually a few years younger than him? And for two, and yes indeed, even more problematically, why does Henry Henley, the Lord of the Manor, call the fossilised remains unearthed by Mary Anning and her brother an ichthyosaur, when it was only named this in 1840 by Richard Owen (and thus almost thirty years later)? And it certainly (in my opinion) makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever for Lord Henley to be calling Mary Anning's discovery an ichthyosaur, when that label did not even exist in 1811 (and frankly, considering that in 1811, most people in England still firmly believed in the Biblical account of creation where the earth was only a few thousand years old, I do have to question whether Henry Henley, even if he might have been amongst the very few to challenge the above notion, would have been telling two young children that their unearthed curiosity, that their collected specimen was the fossilised remains of a creature that lived millions of years ago). Not a bad introduction to Mary Anning by any means, but definitely with the in my opinion necessary caveat that the errors, that the annoying and problematic mistakes contained in The Fossil Girl absolutely do warrant pointing out and discussion (and I for one am also and furthermore more than a bit vexed that Catherine Brighton has not included any source acknowledgements, has not added any bibliographical information, period, and that she has for some strange reason also depicted Mary Anning as wearing a typical girl's straw hat and not the felted gentleman's top hat that Mary Anning's mother insisted her daugher wear for safety).

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book about the famous Mary Anning, who lived in Lyme Regis, England and discovered the world’s first complete fossil of an Ichthyosaurus. The format is a graphic novel, making the story accessible for young readers. It focuses on the discovery, but mostly on the challenge of getting the rock off the high cliff, one piece at a time. Eventually, the fossil is sold, but Mary doesn’t stop looking; all her life was devoted to finding and learning about fossils.

[Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very simplistic comic book style retelling of Mary Anning. I wasn't a huge fan. It would work for littles.

[Becky Shattuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of Mary Anning is told in a graphic novel format (but fewer than 30 pages). I think the style would make it accessible and appealing to some children.

The book focuses on Anning's discovery (with her brother) of a complete ichthyosaur. Her brother first finds the fossilized skull, and she determines what the length of the body should be and finds where it would be located. She does the work extracting it and cleaning it, and they make a much-needed profit on the sale of the fossil. It also suggests some further collaboration, like the fact she learned from her late father and also discussed the fossils with other scientists.

I also appreciate how Brighton highlights some of Anning's thinking and wonder about the fossil. She examines the fossil, notices different features, and wonders, then, what they reveal about the creature's behavior.

[Raving Redcoat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated comic book about Mary Anning, and her famed discovery of one of the first Ichthyosaurs. This book does a really good job of putting the reader into the setting of early 1800's England, and giving a sense for how important Mary's discovery was. I think the only real flaw is that I would have liked to see a bit about Elizabeth Philpot, as her friendship with Mary was absolutely critical to Mary's development as a scientist.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very simple and short telling of when Mary Anning and her brother Joseph found an ichthyosaur, but I enjoyed the illustrations and story. I wish it could have been a little longer and told more of Mary's life as a fossil hunter.

[Joe Eyres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pairs well with Calpurnia Tate.

[ScienceTeacher321 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the art, but the story was overly edited down too much. I was hoping to use this with my students, but I don't think the science is strong enough.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant story of Mary Anning and how she found her first fossil. Just lovely.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a text format children will actually read and enjoy...but, yes, the inaccuracies other reviewers have pointed out knock it down two stars. Sigh...

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

written like a comic strip

[Nolan Brendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it because she was the first paleontologist and she found dinosaur bones.

[Michelle Schulten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inspiring book for girls.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive science-based biographical graphic novel. For 1999, this is unexpected in is format. I liked it quite a bit.

[Charles]

I read this because I am looking for a children's book about Mary Anning to read to kids as part of a day-camp I'm putting together for the YMCA.

I like that this book focuses on Anning as a young girl, since the message I want to send to the kids is that they too can be paleontologists. I also like how it shows Anning and her brother looking at living animals for reference and examining an ichthyosaur's skull and determining it breathed air. It shows the kids how paleontology is practiced by scientists. I'm worried that the graphic novel format of the book is not going to be easy to read to a large group of children in a way that holds their interest. I have had trouble with this before. The book also makes a note of the concept of evolution and how it has clashed with religion. This is a subject I want to avoid altogether. I think it's important for kids to learn about evolution, but I don't want to traverse that political minefield with the program I'm setting up. Also, I kind of don't like it that Henry Henley is the one who finally identifies the ichthyosaur. It's probably (as best I know) historically accurate, but the point I want to make to the kids is that they themselves can do this science stuff, and don't need to seek approval from gatekeeper adults.

All in all, this is a promising book that might very well work for the program.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. This book was awarded the 1999 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
2. The appropriate grade level is first to third grade.
3. Mary Anning's family owns a fossil shop but a storm destroys and sweeps all the fossils away. The following day, Mary and her brother, Joe, goes to find more but came across a fossil of an Ichthyosaur dinosaur. She sold it to Henry Henley and went to look for more fossils. She became a fossil expert.
4. This book is written in a comic book format which allows it to be an easy read for kids. The illustrations showed realistic facial expressions when her brother and her went fossil looking, the concerned look when she sees her mother crying, and determination of what kind of fossil she found.
5. a) An in-class use is to teach students about fossils and rocks.
b) This can also be a read aloud of a unit of dinosaurs. The students can also do their own research about different kinds of dinosaurs.

[Lindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children's biography (in a graphic novel format) introduces the Mary Anning and the early days of fossil hunting. Nice illustrations, but so simplistic -- the picture of the "crocodile" that made Mary's reputation is so obvious that kids will wonder why nobody had seen it before. Where's the magic or sense of discovery? This would have been a perfect book for a Graeme Base or I Spy approach.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fossil Girl by Catherine Brighton is a good story to teach students about fossils. I would use this book to introduce students to fossils and their characteristics. I could also use this book to talk about other different types of rocks such as igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. I would use this book for students in 3rd-4th grade.

[Joy Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with a 9 year old boy. We both loved the illustrations and layout -- more like a comic/graphic novel. The story intrigued him and he was fascinated by the fossil discovery, the bravery of Mary Anning and the way a child could help earn money for the family. Brighton's art is wonderful -- the expressive faces on the characters are priceless.

[Ardyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read-together option in comic book format (though bound as a picture book). Mostly achievable vocabulary for first or second grade, with a couple biggies like "curiosities" and various dinosaur names.

I really liked the art.

My son was certainly enthralled for the ten or fifteen minutes it takes.

[Noel Echols]

fossils (3rd grade)

[Andrew Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be great to read during a lesson on fossils. I would recommend this book for 3rd grade.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids and I read this a couple of years ago and are revisiting fossils and Mary Anning, so reading it again. All of us like this one.

Reread many times over many years.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

will come later ...

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good--but not as good as Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon

[Kara Borchert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that this biography was written like a graphic novel, rather than in paragraph format. The small, broken-up pieces of text made it easier to get through the information. This is an interesting true story, and one that I've never heard before!

Guided Reading: P
Lexile: 250L

Six Traits: Presentation