The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker

Wendy loved hunting through hills and gullies for unusual things like rocks, birds, burrs and bird feathers. She also loved to take pictures of her finds with her camera.

During a class field trip to the badlands near her home in Alberta, twelve-year-old Wendy discovered a piece of fossilized coral.  Her teacher explained that "Millions of years ago, this land was the Western Interior Seaway - an underwater world teeming with marine life." 

Wendy was intrigued by the information a fossil could provide about the past and so she began hunting for fossils in earnst. Her favourite place to hunt for fossils was Devil's Coulee, part of the badlands. Soon she was finding many fossils. 

When she was seventeen, Wendy made an rare find - a fossilized dinosaur eggshell. This discovery brought paleontologists to Devil's Coulee to explore for more fossils and they found them: more fossilized dinosaur eggs from Hypacrosaurus. Even more  important was the discovery of dinosaur embryos in the fossilized eggs!

These discoveries led to Wendy working at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology and traveling the world to find fossils in other countries, including Greenland and Mongolia.

Wendy continued to hunt for fossils in Alberta, uncovering the fossil of a unique horned dinosaur. Because the rest of the fossilized remains of the dinosaur were buried deep, it took four years to excavate and extract the bones. Paleontologists were able to determine that this was the remains of a new horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The dinosaur was named after Wendy, Wendiceratops pinhorensis. Meanwhile, Wendy continues to find fossils.

Discussion

Wendy Sloboda is a Canadian fossil hunter who has made many significant fossil discoveries over the past few decades that have led to a great understanding of dinosaurs. Born in Warner, Alberta, Sloboda found her first significant fossil in 1987 as a teenager. This discovery was of fossil eggshells, as described in Becker's picture book that led scientists to discover several nests of duck-billed dinosaurs called hadrosaurs. Other notable finds include a fossilized turtle containing eggs, the footprint of a new ichnospecies of dinosaur, as well as her discovery of a new species of horned dinosaur which was named in her honour.

Becker's detailed account of Slobada's contributions to paleontology includes some information on the types of animals that populated the Western Interior Seaway, and explanations as to why the discovery of the  Hypacrosaurus embryos was so significant. Becker's research for the book included interviewing Wendy Sloboda.

Telling Wendy Sloboda's story in picture book format does make her contributions accessible to younger readers but photographs of locations and of Wendy would have been nice additions to the book. A map showing Wendy's hometown, the location of the Alberta badlands (including some photographs of this unusual landform) her discoveries would also be helpful. Sandra Dumais' colourful digital illustrations round out the story.

Included in the back matter are several pages with information about the real Wendy, How to Be a Fossil Hunter, Alberta's Amazing Bone Beds (a picture of the Alberta badlands would have done nicely here), How Are Fossils Formed?, About Wendiceratops, a Glossary and where to find more information.

The Fossil Whisperer will help inspire a new generation of girls to consider geology and paleontology as potential career options. Wendy Sloboda's life demonstrates that a childhood interest can develop into a life-long career.

Book Details:

The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker
Toronto: Kids Can Press      2022

When Sue Found Sue by Toni Buzzeo

The inspiring story of Sue Hendrickson and her incredible discovery is told in When Sue Found Sue a picture book for younger readers.

Growing up in Munster, Indiana, Sue was a shy and curious child who loved to read and loved to find lost things. Sue was a very smart child who learned about the world around her through her extensive reading. She would visit the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago to view the exhibits of fossils and other items people had found over the years.

At age seventeen, Sue began travelling and joining teams of other treasure hunters. Her travels eventually led her to the hills of western South Dakota, known for its fossils. Sue spent four summers digging for duck-billed dinosaurs. It was dusty, hot work but Sue loved it. She found herself drawn to a sandstone cliff in the distance. On a day off, Sue and her dog Gypsy hiked to the cliff and it was there that she saw the bones of a T. Rex exposed. It took the team five days of hard work to expose the fossil skeleton and another three weeks to map and carefully remove them. Today the skeleton, named Sue, resides in the Field Museum of Natural History. This remarkable fossil has added significantly to our knowledge about this dinosaur.

Discussion

When Sue Found Sue tells the amazing story of the discovery of the most complete Tyrannosaurs Rex skeleton to date. The fossil skeleton containing about 250 bones was discovered in 1990 by marine archeologist, field paleontologist and professional diver Sue Hendrickson. There are believed to be about 380 bones in a T. Rex skeleton, meaning Sue is ninety percent complete.

The new Sue with gastral basket and shifted stance.

Although there are now over thirty T. Rex skeletons that have been discovered, only five are approximately forty percent complete. This makes Sue Hendrickson's discovery that much more important. The T. Rex Sue does have some missing bones including one foot and one hand as well as about eight inches of her tail. And unlike many other fossil bones, Sue's bones were in very good condition.

Although the dinosaur is named Sue, scientists do not know if this skeleton is that of a male or female T. Rex. Dating from the Cretaceous period (about 67 million years ago) the skeleton was discovered with rib like gastralia bones that scientists were not sure exactly how they were connected to the skeleton. Scientists have now determined that the gastral bones were probably a feature that helped the T. Rex breathe. They have added the 26 bones that comprise part of the dinosaurs gastal basket to the skeleton.

When Sue Found Sue presents the story of Sue's discovery in easy to read prose, emphasizing Sue Hendrickson's determination to do in life what she found most interesting  - search for things. But unlike her childhood, Sue became part of teams that searched for lost boats, planes, for prehistoric fossils and finally for dinosaurs. Sue is an inspiration for young readers to follow their interests, challenging them to really look at the world around them. Sue's observations of the world inspired her and filled her with wonder and curiosity. There are many more discoveries waiting to be made!

Artist Diana Sudyka's earthy illustrations help the story of Sue Hendrickson come alive. Gouache and watercolours made from earth pigments were used to create the Dakota scenes in the picture book.

Buzzeo includes a short Author's Note about Sue Hendrickson and her discovery, a Resources For Children section and also lists some Additional Resources.

Readers are encouraged to check out The Field Museum of Natural History's webpage on Sue.

Sue image:  https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/fresh-science-makeover-sue

Book Details:

When Sue Found Sue by Toni Buzzeo
New York: Abrams Books For Young People    2019

Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown

Rare Treasure tells the story of the greatest "fossilist" of all time - Mary Anning of Lyme Regis in Dorset, England. Mary was born on May 21, 1799 to a cabinetmaker who supplemented his income by selling the strange finds from the fossil beds by the town. Although Mary's parents, Richard and Molly had ten children, only Mary and her brother Joseph survived to adulthood.

When Mary was a toddler, she was with a group of women watching an equestrian show when a storm blew up. The women took shelter beneath a tree when it was struck by lightning. Only Mary survived. This event seemed to mark a change in Mary who grew into a lively child full of curiosity.  Although Mary learned to read and write, she never received much education. The Anning family was poor and because of war on the continent, (England was at war with France), there were often food shortages.

Lyme Regis soon became a tourist mecca for the English looking to get away from the polluted, dirty cities of the north.  Richard Anning took Mary and Joseph with him as he scoured the limestone and shale cliffs around Lyme Regis looking for fossils. They would then set up a table in the town and sell their finds to tourists.

In November 1810, Mary's father passed away, leaving the family in even more serious poverty. To supplement their income from the parish relief they received Mary continued to hunt for fossils on the cliffs of Lyme Regis. Over the years she built up a substantial business and a reputation.

Her first major find was in 1811 when she was twelve years old. Over the period of several months she and Joseph dug up a fossilized skeleton of an what would later be called an ichthyosaur. Other substantial finds included a pleisosaur  in 1823, a pterosaur in 1828 and a squaloraja in 1829.

Although Mary Anning had received little schooling she read scientific papers and even studied the anatomy of living creatures to better understand the fossils she was finding. She lived at a time when women had few rights, the could not vote and were not allowed entry into universities. Although she was often not given full credit for her discoveries, eventually her contributions to the field of paleontology was recognized by several prominent geologists of the time. Mary Anning's discoveries had a profound influence on how humans thought about the planet and its past. At the turn of the century, the belief that the Earth and everything in it was created in six days by God was common. However, the fossils that Mary Anning discovered were of creatures that no longer existed and they made scientists rethink the past and how the present came to be.

Mary Anning's sketch of a Plesiosaur, 1824

Rare Treasure is a well written, short account of Mary Anning's life. Brown is a capable storyteller, capturing the more important parts of Mary Anning's life; her family's struggles with poverty, the dangerous work of searching for fossils on the shore, the wonderful discoveries she made, and her desire to understand what she found.Although some of the obstacles Anning encountered are omitted, Brown does emphasize that Mary Anning came to be highly regarded by many prominent scientists of the day including William Buckland and Richard Owens.  The pen, ink and watercolour illlustrations of Don Brown are a wonderful supplement to the story of this intelligent and courageous English woman.

Rare Treasure is recommended for young readers, especially girls interested in dinosaurs, earth science or science in general.

Book Details:

Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company     1999