History VIPs: Mary Anning

by Kay Barnham

'She sells sea shells on the sea shore' - and she really did! This rhyme is thought to have been written about Mary Anning, an amazing fossilist and dinosaur expert, who was almost unknown at the time she lived. This biography explores the life of Mary Anning, from her first fossil finds at the age of ten to her sales of important discoveries to wealthy scientists. Mary's fossil finds made a great contribution to what scientist understood about pre-historic life.

Through the story of Mary Anning, readers learn about life and society in the 1800s and Victorian Britain. We learn what it was like to be born into a poor family and about the roles of women in society and in the field of science. Readers will learn to draw conclusions from the evidence provided - a great basis for class discussions.

History VIP biographies each look at the life of a famous Briton telling the stories of these Very Important People with clear, lively text. Amazing facts are added with feature panels and lively illustrations give visual information of the time and society the VIP lived in. With these key biographies students learn how individual people's actions have shaped the course of history.

Key terms are defined in an easy-to-use glossary encouraging readers to use historical terms in their own work.

Features
In other news - these panels give context and help readers to understand the society and events of the wider world in which the subject lived
True or False - questions lead students to question information and to interact with the facts they are presented with.
What they said - quote features bring the subjects to life using their own words!
WOW! - Boxes add humorous or amazing information to astound the reader and bring out the hilarious side of history

Genres: History

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2016

Reviews

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library to read with my class when we were learning about fossils. Mary Anning is a fascinating figure and I felt that this book did a brilliant job of giving you lots of information about her in an accessible and interesting way. I particularly liked the little snapshots of information given in the coloured boxes.
I will be looking up more books from this series and getting some for our school library!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best thing I've read on Mary Anning. Clear, interesting and, by all appearances, properly researched. I like the illustrations and the layout. Does a good job of presenting her story/biography and adding in background information on things like fossils, what else was happening in the world, the impacts of her works, quotes about her, etc.

[abdulraffij · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read. Full with illustration. Most suitable for toodler to introduce them with famous people of the past.