Cover reveal: Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones

I have a huge collection of nonfiction picture books but there are particular titles I reach for again and again. Titles that engage students of various ages. Titles that intrigue adults. Titles that are at the top of the pile when I pack up nonfiction books to share with a group of educators. These books are the first books I recommend when someone asks me, “Which titles should I buy?” “What titles do your students love?” or “What would be a guaranteed hit?” These books do what kids love them to do – immediately hook the reader and pull them into the pages for an adventure in learning.

Two titles at the top of my go to pile are books written by Sara Levine and illustrated by T.S. Spookytooth: Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons (Lerner Books 2013) and Tooth by Tooth: Comparing Fangs, Tusks, and Chompers (Lerner Books 2016)

It’s not just the engaging nature of these titles – the way they ask questions – Imagine if . . . What kind of animal would you be if . . . ? What if you only had . . .? The magic is in the asking us to think of ourselves in a completely different way as we compare ourselves to animals. The questions instantly generate more questions and the trying to guess the animals is hugely exciting. As soon as we start asking the questions and revealing the illustrations which give little hints, everyone in the room is hooked.

Here is a question from each book to give you the idea.

What kind of animal would you be if you had no leg bones but kept your arm bones? All of a sudden we need to think about purposes of our legs and how we would function without them. What would our arms need to be able to do?

What would you be if your top canine teeth grew almost all the way down to your feet? Hold on – why would we need teeth like that? What could we do if we had them?  What can we do with our canine teeth right now?

When Carol Hinz, editor with Lerner Publishing, asked me if I would like to do a cover reveal for Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones (Lerner Publishing 2018) of course I said yes!

If I could involve my students