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Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story Of Mary Anning (1999)

by Laurence Anholt(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0531301486 (ISBN13: 9780531301487)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Scholastic

review 1: Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning is a wonderful picture book biography of a twelve year old girl and her dog who discover a fossilized full skeleton of an Ichthyosaur in the cliffs above her home in Lyme Regis. The story opens with a dramatic event in which Mary is struck by lightning as a baby. The fictional account of Mary Anning's life creates a comfortable view of family life with her father igniting her passion for all things fossil related. After the death of her father 'Pepper' Mary goes on to set up her own fossil shop with the help of the Philpot sisters who are alleged scientists. She then of course goes on to make the remarkable discovery for which she is renown for.Laurence Anholt provides a short closing note on Anning's place in paleontology an... mored goes on to claim that she is the focus of the traditional rhyme "she sells seashells by the seashore." Sheila Moxley's bright, folky illustrations are rife throughout the book, following the journey of Mary, which make it both pleasing and child friendly. This book can be read out aloud to a class as part of guided reading and also be the focus of biography writing within class. This story can also re-enacted in class or form the basis of a class assembly.Best suited to children aged five to nine, this story will be sure to captivate their minds from the very first line as well as providing them a history of a young girl they would have otherwise not known.
review 2: A fascinating story about Mary Anning, the little girl who survived a lighting strike as a baby and grew to love fossils. She found many along the clay cliffs of Dorset in the early 1800s and sparked a great excitement about the "ancient creatures" eventually finding one of the most important fossil skeletons in history. I think kids fascinated by dinosaurs will be naturally drawn to this story--when I was little, I always wanted to find dinosaur bones and it would have been cool to read about a girl who actually did! (Note there are a few sad moments, such as when Mary's father dies and at the end when her dog (maybe a muse?) disappears.) ETA: This novel leaves out a few aspects from Mary's story, such as her brother was actually the first to find the fossils. I did not realize it upon my first reading since it was my first introduction to Mary's story. less

Download links for: Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning

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