PICTURE BOOK - Fossil - Bill Thomson

Illustrated by the author

2014 Two Lions (Amazon!) (I'm quite sure it said 2014 in the book, but Goodreads says it was published in November of 2013.

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.91

My rating: 4/Loved it

Endpapers: grey-green

Title Page: A wordless beginning to the story - the start of their walk

Illustrations: "Bill Thomson embraced traditional painting techniques and meticulously painted each illustration by hand, using acrylic paint and colored pencils.  His illustrations are not photographs or computer-generated images."

1^st line/s: None - it's completely wordless
Dedication:  "In loving remembrance of the students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School"

My comments:  This wordless book is about a boy and his dog, out for a walk along the sandy shore of a lake or pond.  The fossil he discovers when he accidentally trips splits open to begin a series of events that are chronicled beautifully in pictures only.  The facial expressions of the boy AND his dog give the story incredible dimension. I only had one problem with the book.  Near the end of the it, he boy intentionally destroys fossils.  He does this (SPOILER!) to save his dog.  I have a really hard time with this...it makes total sense for the story, but I don't want the idea of destroying a fossil to ever be in an impressionable kid's mind. Other than that, the book was incredibly glorious.  What a beautiful pair this boy and dog are!

Goodreads:  When a boy and his dog go for a hike, the boy trips on a fossil, and it comes to life, revealing an ancient plant. The boy is so intrigued that he breaks two more fossils that come to life—a dragonfly and a pteranodon. When these prehistoric creatures collide with present reality, the boy must figure out a way to make things go back to normal. Visually told through art, this "wordless story" will surely spark imagination and creativity.

Rocks in His Head - Carol Otis Hurst

Illustrated by James Stevenson
Greenwillow/Harcourt
2001
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Creamy pink

"Some people collect stamps. Some people collect coins or dolls or bottle caps. When he was a boy, my father collected rocks. When he wasn't doing chores at home or learning at school, he'd walk along stone walls and around old quarries, looking for rocks. People said he had rocks n his pockets and rocks in his head. He didn't mind. It was usually true."

This wonderfully told memoir includes a little history about the Depression, a little information about collecting, and the story of a man whose passion turns into a living - the true story of how a man with no college education - but a huge love of learning - can become a curator at a museum. Super.