Fossil

by Bill Thomson, Bill Thomson (Illustrator)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477847008
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	11/05/2013
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	456,513
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 12.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bill Thomson was immediately embraced by the children’s book community when Karate Hour was released with his dramatic, extraordinary illustrations. This book was followed by Building with Dad, Baseball Hour, and Soccer Hour, all by Carol Nevius. But when Bill’s own book, Chalk, that he conceived and illustrated without an author—was released in spring 2010, his reputation really took off. That book was short-listed for the Caldecott Award and has sold upwards of 30,000 print copies. Bill is also Associate Professor of Illustration at the University of Hartford. He and his wife, Diann, have three sons and live in Southington, CT.

Editorial Reviews

09/30/2013
Thomson follows his wordless picture book Chalk with another close encounter of the prehistoric kind. This time, a boy finds that when he splits open stones he finds along the shore of a lake, the plant and animal fossils inside them come to life. The boy trips after picking up a fist-sized stone, revealing a fossil fern leaf embedded within. Thus freed, the fern springs up in front of the boy and his cocker spaniel; dazzling light indicates its miraculous nature, and its source is made clear as the boy holds up the fossil to compare it to the fern. A dragonfly is released next, but when the boy releases a huge, scaly pterodactyl, it carries his dog away, and he must work out how to send the predator back to its extinct state. The pacing is tight, and Thomson’s lifelike art stuns on every page, enlivened further by dynamic angles, confident use of panel sequences and full-bleed spreads, and vivid close-ups of the boy’s shocked face. If anything, this adventure is even more effective than its predecessor. Ages 5–8. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

[A] beautiful exercise for the young imagination.” —San Francisco Book Review

From the Publisher

2013-09-25
Exploring a lakeshore, a boy and his dog find a series of rocks which, when broken, reveal fossils that come alive in this wordless but vaguely menacing narrative. The first rock breaks by accident; a bit of fern emerges and takes root. It takes purposeful effort to reveal the next two, but out comes an oversized dragonfly and then a pterodactyl. Thomson's hyper-realistic art uses exaggerated and unusual perspectives to emphasize the boy's heavy human hand and large feet, the size of the prehistoric reptile, and the boy's expressions of shock and awe. Some images are framed in insets on top of the wider vistas on the spread. The art, done by hand using acrylic paint and colored pencils, is almost photographic in its detail. Figures and stones alike are set against a background of cloudless blue sky and an expanse of sand; some greenery in the background provides a horizon. As in his wordless Chalk (2010), Thomson's images come to life, but this story is disturbingly destructive. Although the author opens with a note about fossils, "By studying fossils, we can learn a lot about prehistoric life," the boy destroys them to save his dog, carried away on the pterodactyl's back--a mixed message indeed. Sometimes imagination can take you too far. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews