This picture-book story of Mary Anning and her family's finding of the ichthyosaur when she was twelve may be somewhat exaggerated (the rickety scaffolding incident, for instance) but it is a well told introduction to one of the first female paleontologists and her famous first find. Children will identify with her and her brother Joe. A nice book to pair with other stories such as The Girl Who Drew Butterflies.

Biography
Review: Mary Anning finds a large fossil in the rocks. She digs it out and decides she will become an archeologist searching for magnificent fossils.
Critique: This is a good biography because it tells of an event that actually happened in Mary's life. It is also a good biography because it has other facts about her family life at home. ( )

Genre: Biography
AgeL Primary
Media: watercolor
Review/critique: A little girl finds a fossil in a cliff and digs it out. It is a biography; I am not familiar with this person at all (partly I wonder if she is famous in Great Britain because of the spelling and use of pounds in this book). It wasn't the most exciting story (biographies rarely are) but the pictures were interesting and sort of comic-book style. ( )