Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World

by Tracey Fern (Author) Boris Kulikov (Illustrator)

Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
Barnum Brown's parents named him after the circus icon P.T. Barnum, hoping that he would do something extraordinary--and he did. As a paleontologist for the American Museum of Natural History, he discovered the first documented skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as most of the other dinosaurs on display there today. Full color.
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Kirkus

Starred Review
Fern fills her text with all the salient facts but uses a breezy, humorous, awestruck voice that strikes just the right tone in telling the story of this fascinating, quirky scientist.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

K-Gr 4--Barnum Brown had a nose for fossils, trudging along behind his father as he plowed his Kansas fields, picking up ancient clams and corals. And that nose, according to Fern's chatty, readable text, led to a lifetime of work for the American Museum of Natural History in New York (originally under the guidance of Henry Fairfield Osborn). A brief glimpse at Brown's early years leads to his expeditions to Patagonia and the American West, and the discovery of his most exciting find--Tyrannosaurus rex. Kulikov's cartoon illustrations splash across the spreads, their golds, browns, oranges (and an occasional bright blue) forming a perfect backdrop for the text, and for a scattering of correspondence between Brown and Osborn tucked into the endpapers ("Please...send me 1/2 doz. short, heavy chisels...."). An extensive author's note provides further biographical detail about this productive paleontologist. This book is simpler than Deborah Kogan Ray's stellar Dinosaur Mountain: Digging into the Jurassic Age (Farrar, 2010), which has a similar format, and is on a par with David Sheldon's handsome Barnum Brown: Dinosaur Hunter (Walker, 2006). T. rex lovers will gobble it up, and seekers of easy biographies will be hot on their heels.--Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes




Tracey Fern

Tracey Fern is the author of two other picture books, Buffalo Music and Pippo the Fool, both Junior Library Guild selections. She lives with her family in West Newton, Massachusetts, where she's always on the lookout for unusual rocks.

Boris Kulikov has illustrated many other books for children, including Max's Words by Kate Banks. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York, where he has not yet discovered any dinosaur bones.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780374305161
Lexile Measure
1010
Guided Reading Level
S
Publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Publication date
May 22, 2012
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF003050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
JNF037050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Fossils
JNF007090 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
Library of Congress categories
United States
Brown, Barnum
Paleontologists
Bluebonnet Awards
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Beehive Awards
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2013 - 2013
Rhode Island Children's Book Awards
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Jefferson Cup
Honor Book 2013 - 2013
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Charlotte Award
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Volunteer State Book Awards
Nominee 2015 - 2016

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