Dinosaurs

PALEONTOLOGISTS AND DINOSAUR HUNTERS

	Fay Robinson’s A Dinosaur Named Sue (Cartwheel, 1999) is the story of Sue Hendrickson’s discovery of “Sue,” the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, now on display at Chicago’s Field Museum. For ages 4-8.
	Check out Sue the T. rex at the Field Museum website.
	Tracy Fem’s Barnum’s Bones (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012) is the story of paleontologist Barnum Brown – named for the showman P.T. Barnum – who discovered the first documented Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. For ages 5-9.
	From the American Museum of Natural History, see Barnum Brown: The Man Who Discovered Tyrannosaurus rex on You Tube.
	Barbara Kerley’s The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins (Scholastic, 2001) – with wonderful illustrations by Brian Selznick – is the story of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the Victorian artist who built the life-size dinosaur models that ornamented the grounds of London’s famous Crystal Palace. (He threw a dinner party for scientists inside his Iguanodon.) For ages 6 and up.
	Shirley Raye Redmond’s That Dog That Dug for Dinosaurs (Simon Spotlight, 2012) – a Ready to Read book – is the (true) story of Mary Anning’s dog Tray and their fossil-hunting expeditions in England in the early 19th century. For ages 6-8.
	Jessie Hartland’s How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum (Blue Apple Books, 2011) is the 145-million-year-long story of how a Diplodocus fossil was formed, its bones discovered, uncovered, and transported to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  Clever cartoon illustrations and a creative design make this book a gem. For ages 6-9.
	Kate McMullen’s Dinosaur Hunters (Random House, 2005) – a Step Into Reading book – is an information-packed history of paleontology from Mary Ann and Gideon Mantell’s 19th-century discovery of Iguanodon through “Dinosaur Jim” Jensen, discoverer of Supersaurus and Ultrasaurus. For ages 7-9.
	By Peter Larson and Kristin Donnan, Bones Rock! (Invisible Cities Press, 2004)  – subtitled “Everything You Need to Know to Be a Paleontologist” – has background information and how-tos for young dinosaur- and fossil-lovers. Find out how to dig, clean, and evaluate fossils, and to propose and test scientific hypotheses. Illustrated with color photos and diagrams. For ages 9-12.
	Ann Bausman’s Dragon Bones and Dinosaur Eggs (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2000) is a 64-page photobiography of dinosaur hunter Roy Chapman Andrews – the flamboyant real-life model for Indiana Jones. He’s best-known for his dinosaur finds in China’s Gobi Desert. For ages 10 and up.
	Nic Bishop’s Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002) – one of the Scientists in the Field series – is a photo-essay on Cathy Forster’s 1998 expedition to Madagascar and her work on the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. For ages 10 and up.
	By Jim Ottaviani and colleagues, Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards (G.T. Labs, 2005) is a well-done historical graphic novel about the “Bone Wars” of the Gilded Age, during which rivals Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh competed for the West’s troves of dinosaur bones. For ages 10 and up.
	By Deborah Noyes, the beautifully designed Tooth & Claw: The Dinosaur Wars (Viking, 2019) is the story of the rivalry between paleontologists Edward Cope and Othniel Marsh, illustrated with fact boxes and period photos. For ages 11 and up.
	Nature writer David Rains Wallace’s The Bonehunters’ Revenge (Mariner Books, 2000) is a detailed account of the fatal Bone Wars for teenagers and adults.
	From the PBS American Experience series, Dinosaur Wars is a video account of the Othniel Marsh/Edward Cope conflict that (on the positive side) set off a permanent American passion for dinosaurs. The website has background information and a teacher’s guide. Dinosaur Wars is available on DVD or can be watched online at the website.
	In Bone Wars (“The Game of Ruthless Paleontology”) from Zygote Games, players take on the role of paleontologists and compete to collect dinosaur bones, fending off natural disasters and unscrupulous rivals along the way. For 2-4 players ages 10 and up.
	The DinoHunters is an online history of dinosaur hunting with capsule biographies of famous dinosaur hunters, among them Gideon Mantell, Mary Anning, Barnum Brown, and Sue Hendrickson.
	From Enchanted Learning, The Top Paleontologists and Dinosaur Hunters of All Time is a long hyperlinked alphabetized list beginning with Luis Alvarez.
	The Dinosaur Hunters is a kid’s musical about the 19th-century dinosaur “bone wars” between paleontologists Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope (“two men with very strange beards”). A fun free download.