Stone Girl Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning of Lyme Regis

I really liked this book when I first read it, but then started to research more facts to tell my daughter and realized the inaccuracies in the book. For example, the final paragraph says that after she discovered the Ichthyosaurus, her dog disappeared. "But the strange thing was, the little speckled dog had gone. As if he had done his work and drifted away..." The dog, Tray, actually died later on in a landslide that almost killed Mary. I realize that might not be a detail to include in a children's book, but they could have just not mentioned the dog at the end or said something vague like, "He continued to help Mary hunt fossils until his death."Also, Mary hunted fossils with her brother Joseph. He was with her when they discovered the Ichthyosaurus. The book makes no mention of him. It also makes a big deal that she "suddenly had an idea--perhaps she could sell her Curiosities!" after her father's death and their need for money. However, her father collected and sold the curiosities (fossils) to tourists prior to his death and Mary and Joseph helped. She did continue doing that, but it wasn't a new idea for her.As a cute story, it is nice. The illustrations are good and the story is interesting. However, if you are using it as a part of a paleontology unit or to teach facts, make sure to research and present the additional information as it is not historically accurate.

I bought this for my four year old daughter and she loves it. The writing is clear and age appropriate. The illustrations are well-rendered, imaginative and appealing. The book itself is well made - I got a used former library edition, and it was in excellent shape. I will be looking for other works by this author. There is also a nice postscript covering some additional detail of Mary Anning's life inside the back cover that provides some 'grownup' context for further reference. Overall, excellent book.

We knew very little of Mary Anning when we started, just that she had discovered some prehistoric fossils when she was a kid. This was a great gateway book into Mary Anning for our three year old.

This is an excellent starter book and ispiration for your junior archologist and anthropologist. My eight year old daughter loves it!

My dinosaur-loving granddaughters ( 3 and 6) ask to have this read to them over and over.

My Dino loving daughter is obsessed- finally a female role model

Beautiful story, great role model for little girls.

Great read aloud to introduce my second grade class to our unit on fossils.

This book makes out that Mary Anning was only good because all the men helped her in anything she achieved - when, in fact, the exact opposite was true - she made them famous and got no credit for her work as they took all the credit -

I bought this book as I found it recommended on A mighty Girl website [...] which promotes positive female rolemodels.Mary Annings work was hugely influential in her own lifetime, and she is a great female role model particularly for girls interested in science and natural history. Recently my daughter has been learning about Mary Anning in school, so she took the book in for the class.The story itself is enjoyable and informative, it encourages outdoor exploring and interest in history and nature, it also mentions the death of her father.However I was surprised the story does not mention that Mary Anning had a brother, Joseph, and also it seems to suggest that aher pet dog (possibly the reincarnation of her dead father) was responsible for her major discovery of Ichthyosaurus, although other sources credit Joseph with this discovery.Overall I would definitely recommend this book as an introduction to fossils and women in history, although the suggestion of reincarnation may be uncomfortable for some parents.

We purchased this book prior to a family holiday in Lyme Regis. It's a good telling of the Mary Anning story, her life and discoveries, and my son (age 6) found it fascinating to read about the places he had visited. It would be good for any child learning about fossils and geology. It's also a good example of females scientists and the way they were discounted in the past by male scientists.

I bought this for my 7 year old boy and 8 year old girl. Both were overjoyed with this purchase and we all learned so much about Mary Anning. I would highly recommend for ages 6+

What a great book. Very informative and a lovely (true) story for children who maybe feel that they don't fit in with their peers or just for girls who know that they can do anything that boys can do. My two year old granddaughter loves foslis and Dinosaurs and hopefully this will encourage her as she gets older to do whatever she wants to do in life.