The Fossil Girl

I read this book with my six year old daughter and her first grade class. The story is told from the viewpoint of Mary Anning, a young girl, who along with her brother supplemented her widowed mother's income by the selling of "curiousities" which they found on the beach near their home in England. These curiousities turned out to be fossils of dinosaurs. (The book takes place in the 19th century when such things were still not common knowledge). It is a wonderful story simply told with beautiful illustrations. It is simple emough for a first or second grader to read by themselves with a few assists over the "hard" words. It is particularly good because it is also a true story! There is a one page addendum at the end telling the rest of the Mary Anning's life and how she, although never leaving the small village where she was born, became one of the foremost dinosaur experts of her time.