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Barnum's Bones by Tracey Fern
ISBN 0374305161
ISBN-13: 9780374305161

40 Pages   Hardcover   $17.99
 
Barnum's Bones:  How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World.
Right from the start, Barnum Brown was an unusual boy. He had an unusual name, an unusual way of dressing, and a very unusual hobby - fossil hunting. Barnum collected hundreds of fossils on his family’s Kansas farm, but he dreamed of finding something even more unusual: dinosaurs! As a young man, Barnum began hunting for dinosaurs for the American Museum of Natural History and quickly discovered the museum’s first dinosaurs. Then one day in 1902, Barnum was hunting for dinosaurs in the badlands of Montana. He spotted a milky brown bone poking out of a hillside. Barnum had never seen anything like it before. What could it be? It took Barnum months of digging and more months fitting bones together before he knew what he had found: the world’s first Tyrannosaur rex! Barnum went on to collect more dinosaur bones than anyone one earth, and T. rex became the most famous dinosaur in the world – as important and unusual as Barnum himself.
*Illustrated by Boris Kulikov
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Barnum's Bones by Tracey Fern
 
Reviews:
Junior Library Guild Premier Selection
 
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review (April 2012)
"...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.  Kulikov's wittily energetic, earth-toned watercolors enliven the text and add to the fun and interest."
 
Booklist, Starred Review (June 2012) - "...truly breathtaking.  This will captivate the masses of kids whose jaws drop in the presence of hulking fossils."
 
School Library Journal, Starred Review (June 2012 ) - "T. rex lovers will gobble it up, and seekers of easy biographies will be hot on their heels."
 
2014 Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominee
 
2013 Maine Cream of the Crop List
 
2014 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award Nominee
 
2013 Virginia Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book
 
2013 Best Book of the Year by Bank Street College of Education
 
Booklist Top 10 Biographies for Youth: 2013
 
Booklist Top 10 Science and Health Book for Youth 2012
 
Washington Post Best Kids Book of 2012
 
2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee
 
Cooperative Children's Book Center CCBC Choices 2013 List
 
2013 DC Capitol Choices: Noteworthy books for Children and Teens List
 
2013 National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students
 
Teacher's Guide:
Download a Teacher's Guide to Barnum's Bones,
filled with classroom activities to further explore and extend learning,
links to additional resources, and frequently asked questions.
Cool Dinosaur Links:

There are literally thousands of fascinating websites about dinosaurs generally, but here are a few of my favorites that deal more specifically with T. Rex, Barnum Brown, and Montana fossil hunting:

Bone to Pick http://www.npr.org/2011/09/14/140410442/bone-to-pick-first-t-rex-skeleton-complete-at-last Listen to the story of how one missing bone was finally returned to Barnum's T. rex. This site also has cool digital animation and videos that illustrate how T. rex may have walked, spotted prey, and more.
T. Rex Growth Series http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/dinosaur-hall Discover how T. rex grew on this site which shows a stunning display of a baby, juvenile, and sub-adult T. rex.  This site also has a link to a timelapse video of Thomas the T. rex being erected at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
American Museum of Natural History. See a selection of Barnum's field notebooks, letters, and photos http://research.amnh.org/paleontology/collections/vertebrate-paleontology-archives
Field Museum. Check out the home of Sue, one of the most complete T. rex skeletons in the world. http://fieldmuseum.org/
Discovery Channel http://dsc.discovery.com/dinosaurs/ A great general resource that offers a comprehensive guide to dinosaurs, including where they lived, what they ate, and how they behaved.