The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur - Hardcover

Becker, Helaine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1525304186 ISBN 13: 9781525304187

Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2022

Synopsis

A captivating look at the life of a modern-day fossil hunter who makes the find of a lifetime told by award-winning author Helaine Becker.

Wendy has an eye for the unusual and is skilled at finding things that others don’t see. While on a school field trip at age 12, she spots one of those unusual things poking out of the ground, and it turns out to be a piece of fossilized coral that’s 100 million years old. Wendy’s thrilled! And soon, she gets hooked on finding fossils. When she grows up, Wendy turns her passion into her career and becomes a preeminent fossil hunter, known as the “fossil whisperer” around the world. But it’s on a dig close to home where Wendy makes her most important discovery: Wendiceratops!. Becker’s narrative is full of energy, allowing Wendy’s intelligence, independence and unconventional spirit to shine through. Sandra Dumais’s illustrations keep the visual appeal high, cleverly presenting the modern-day story with loads of details while giving readers a feel for the past when dinosaurs roamed the land, including two intriguing gatefolds that reveal further secrets. This readable biography of a unique female role model in the male-dominated field of paleontology has strong STEM connections in life science and paleontology and applications in Earth history. It includes a biographical note, more information about Wendiceratops and fossil hunting, a timeline, a glossary and further reading.

About this title

About the Author

Helaine Becker is the bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and young adults, including Counting on Katherine, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree and Emmy Noether. She is a two-time recipient of the Lane Anderson Award and a winner of both the Silver Birch Award and the Red Cedar Award. Helaine lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario.
Sandra Dumais is a children's book illustrator and the owner of the company Moon and Sparrow. She is the author of the Farm Crimes! series and the illustrator of Oliva Wrapped in Vines, The Fossil Whisperer and Bob the Boo-Boo. In her free time, she can be seen exploring Montreal's laneways with her husband and their two little artists.

Reviews

K-Gr 4-This picture book biography kicks off when Canadian fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda is a young student. She loves exploring nature and notices things that other people miss, spying the unusual amidst a field of seemingly ordinary birds, rocks, and plants. Detailed illustrations will inspire readers to notice just such minutiae, from a blue jay feather in her pocket to the brilliant red of a cardinal or toadstool. On a field trip to the badlands near her home, Sloboda falls in love with fossils and, at the age of 12, the course for her life is set. She grows up to work in the paleontology department of a museum and travels the world finding fossils wherever she goes. During one of her fossil hunts, she discovers the skeleton of an unknown horned dinosaur and initiates a four-year-long dig with other paleontologists. The dinosaur is named Wendiceratops in her honor. Back matter includes more biographical details about her life, the Wendiceratops, Canadian fossil discoveries, a glossary, and tips and research resources for students who want to follow in her footsteps. Obvious care has been given to intentionally inclusive illustrations. Each crowd in the book, from the first page depicting Sloboda leaving school, to the ending where a museum group huddles honoring her discovery, features a person using a wheelchair and people with different skin and hair colors, head coverings, and glasses. Beautifully crafted, colorful, and carefree endpapers with a frolicking girl amid trees, animals, and fossils capture the spirit of the book. VERDICT Recommended for early nonfiction collections and any shelf emphasizing STEM titles or biographies of women.-Lauren Youngerα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1525304186
• ISBN 13: 9781525304187
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Dumais Sandra
• Number of pages: 32