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Summary
Summary
The amazing story of how the world's greatest fossilist found her first huge find at the age of twelve.
Mary was born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, England. Her father, a carpenter and part-time fossil hunter, taught his children to look for fossils.
When her father injured himself and was unable to work, Mary quit school and took up fossil hunting full-time to help support her family, a task that became even more important when her father died, leaving the Annings in debt.
At the age of twelve, Mary, with her older brother Joe, found what they believed to be the skeleton of a gigantic crocodile, the Great Croc of the legends. Between dodging her rival fossil hunter the Curiman, and the sheer work of carefully digging out the fossil, Mary took almost a year to excavate what would later be termed the Ichthyosaurus.
Mary Anning was uneducated, poor and a woman, but her life's work of fossil hunting led her to make many discoveries that influenced our understanding of prehistoric creatures and the age of the Earth.
In this triumphant novel about scientific discovery, Monica Kulling brings Mary Anning and her world to life for young readers.
Key Text Features
author's note
historical context
resources
facts
further reading
Author Notes
Monica Kulling is the author of over fifty books for children, including Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children, illustrated by Julianna Swaney, and On Our Way to Oyster Bay: Mother Jones and Her March for Children's Rights, illustrated by Felicita Sala. She has also written the popular Great Idea series, and her work has been nominated for many awards, including numerous Silver Birch Express and Golden Oak awards. Monica Kulling lives in Toronto.
Melissa Castrillon has a First Class Honors Degree in Illustration and a master's degree in Children's Book Illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. She is a freelance illustrator based in Cambridge, England.Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Mary Anning (1799-1847) has been described as the "greatest fossilist the world ever knew." In actuality, there is very little definitively known about Anning's childhood and later life. What cannot be disputed is her contribution to our modern understanding of prehistoric creatures and paleontology. In order to address this lack of personal history, Kulling has created a fictionalized account of Anning's childhood, specifically focusing on the scientist's first major fossil discovery at age 12, when she found an ichthyosaurus in the cliffs near her home in Lyme Regis, on the Southern coast of Great Britain. Kulling's depiction of the family's poverty and grief over many lost children is powerful, but these details never overshadow Mary's development. Mary is drawn to the cliffs and the prospect of finding the "Giant Croc" bones of legend. Her brother Joe secures an apprenticeship elsewhere in town, leaving Mary with a brief description of the location of a piece of fossil he had discovered about a year earlier in the rock face. Armed with this knowledge and working carefully to avoid detection by the village con man, Captain Curry, Mary sets about seeking the location of the strange piece. With this fictionalized look at Anning's childhood, Kulling provides context for readers and offers a fascinating glimpse at how those who came before us have shaped our comprehension of the world. VERDICT A strong additional purchase for large collections and where fictionalized biographies are appreciated.-Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Carved out and buffed up from historical records, an imagined account of the great fossil hunter's early life and groundbreaking career.Following an account of the lightning strike that killed several adults but spared the 15-month-old Mary, Kulling skips ahead to record the child's deep delight at getting a rock hammer for her eighth birthday. Between that and Anning's laborious extraction of a great ichthyosaur skeleton at age 12, in 1811, the author chronicles her sometimes-hazardous search for fossil ammonites and other "curiosities" (as they were then called) to sell as the family livelihoodfirst with her father and then, after his disabling accident and early death, largely alone. Period details of everyday life in Lyme Regis, both in the narrative and in Castrilln's delicate illustrations, and embroidered encounters with rival fossil hunters and collectors flesh out the story; notes at the end wire together explanations of what fossils are with descriptions of some of Anning's other discoveries and their subsequent histories. Though here at least she seems almost relieved to quit school at the earliest opportunity to pursue her vocation, Mary presents an admirable role model for her lively mind, independent spirit, and a continuing sense of wonder that drives her to chip away at nature's mysteries. An alternative to the shelf full of picture-book biographies, for readers who may find Sheila Cole's Dragon in the Cliff, illustrated by T.C. Farrow (1991) hard to read or get. (bibliography) (Historical fiction. 9-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mary Anning is still a bit of an unsung hero of early paleontology, and this slim, fictionalized account of her childhood adds to the growing number of children's books about the nineteenth-century fossil hunter. Kulling focuses primarily on Anning's childhood and the story of one of her early finds, later identified as an ichthyosaur. Young Mary loves to traipse about the beach hunting for curiosities, or fossils, that her family sells to tourists. Money is tight, though, and when her father dies and leaves them in debt, Mary and her brother look even harder for the great crocodile rumored to be buried in the shale cliffs. Though a major conflict a competition with another fossil hunter is wrapped up a bit too quickly, Mary's insatiable drive to find fossils and fascination about what the petrified remains reveal about the past should make this popular with middle-graders who love dinosaurs. An author's note offers helpful context, both about Mary Anning's life and paleontology. A stirring story made more inspirational by the reality of its protagonist.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist
Excerpts
Excerpts
Mary worked tirelessly, removing the surrounding shale. She placed her hammer at shallow angles, and flakes and small chunks of stone fell away. She must not crack the bones. It would be horrible to damage this magnificent creature.
The saucer eye grew larger. Its fierce look made Mary wonder if it had died wide-eyed. She shuddered at the thought. Was it possible that a creature like this had once roamed the seas? And how long ago was that? One thousand years? Millions of years? ...
The knowledge gave Mary even greater admiration for the creature that had once swum freely and was now being uncovered by a fossil hunter's hammer.
Excerpted from Mary Anning's Curiosity by Monica Kulling All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
