Mary Anning (Volume 58) (Little People, BIG DREAMS, 58) Hardcover – Picture Book, March 16, 2021

My Granddaughter is fascinated with all things Dinosaurs. We read the book together with her tell me all the names types of dinosaurs. She has already told us she is going to be a polyandrous when she grows up. This book just enforced that no matter what she can do what she dreams of doing!

My 6 year old daughter loves this book and Mary is her new hero. I had never heard of Mary Anning and now I’m very well informed!! My daughter loves digging for treasures, especially bones so she can really relate.

The Little People Big Dreams series is great if you want a biographical picture book to introduce an important person to a younger child or as a quick primer story for older kids before they do more research. If you are looking for a biography this will probably disappoint. I usually love the Little People Big Dreams series in that they are biographical picture books that make learning about a new person accessible to younger children. My 5 year old has thoroughly enjoyed this series as we have been slowly going through them.This one about Mary Anning starts off the same as the other ones in the series with where she was born and tells of the things in her young life that shaped who she became. This book opens up the topic of the oppression of women to early readers. The book makes references to the gender inequalities of the time such as, "Mary deserved to go to college, but at that time, only wealthy men were allowed to go" or "Many books were written using her discoveries, but no-one ever mentioned her name." Anning's story is similar to many female scientists of her time. Just like Rosalind Franklin, Ada Lovelace, and many other female scientists of this time period where at best women's contributions were ignored to the worse where their contributions were stolen by men. I feel it is never too early to introduce topics like this and it certainly opened conversations on this topic with my children regarding the inequalities that happened back then and how much further we still have to go to achieve gender and racial equality in this country.Review For:Mary Anning (Little People, BIG DREAMS, 58)

Children love to discover things in the world around them. This Mary Anning: Little People, Big Dreams shows that anyone, even kids, can make huge discoveries that will literally change the way people throughout time think! What a powerful message!This book also shows that working hard and not giving up, even if you’re in a bad situation, can help you achieve your dreams. Author Maria Vegara paints a portrait of a young Mary Anning who loved finding things in nature and was eager to learn despite a lack of formal education. She was only allowed to go to grade school one day a week and was not allowed to go to college at all. Despite that, she was personally responsible for several life-changing fossil discoveries and she was looked to as an expert in the field because she was so well self-taught.This book does a great job at telling the story of one of the pioneers of paleontology., but it’s great for having discussions with your children beyond fossilized bones and poop! There are other issues at play such as a young girl who had to support her family as a child when her father passed away, and difficulties being a woman in the 19th century. Vergara tells all of these stories in a way that will be simple for young children to understand.There are some words that are advanced in the book but it provides opportunities to not only expand his knowledge of science and history, but also his vocabulary. .As with other Little People, Big Dreams books, this is beautifully bound in a colorful hardback with a thick black center binding. Although the artwork in the book is not masterfully done, it depicts the scenes well and doesn’t detract from the book’s content.This is a great read which illustrates that kids really can do so much if they set their minds to it and work hard. What a great thing to teach your kids!

This is not my favorite biography series for children because the biographies are usually short on information and long on price. Also, some of the people portrayed aren't exactly what many would consider role models.Mary Anning truly deserves this book. She was not given the recognition she should have had for her fossil discoveries while she was alive because she was a woman.This book gives a brief outline of her life and discoveries. The illustrations in other books I have read in this series make the people look like versions of Pinnochio puppets. This book attempts to make the cartoonish drawings look like people.Definitely a woman children should learn about.

I love books and am hoping to pass that down to my kids. I have been reading my whole life - more so than most people or so I am told. I am typically reading 2-3 novels at a time. That being said I am very impressed with Little People, BIG DREAMS!The readability of this book is amazing - I can read this to my five year old and have a slightly decent conversation with my six year old and then in a year or so he will be able to start reading this book on his own.Art - the art is lovely and simple - but keeps your eyes moving to see everythingStory - the story is simple enough but also complex. Mary was the 10th child born in her family - she also discovered dinosaur poop! Mary wasn't recognized for her achievements at the time, but she is now the mother of paleontology.With all that being said - this is an excellent book! And each and every one of the little people, BIG DREAMS books introduces your children to a different sport, career, art style, a life they could also live!My son who is seven really enjoyed the timeline at the end of the book.