A review by emeelee
Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist by Linda Skeers

2.0

Mary Anning is a worthy subject for a children's biography, though the claim that she was "the first paleontologist" is quite an exaggeration. The writing in Dinosaur Lady is nothing special, but the artwork is very cute. I appreciate that it points out the misogyny that Anning faced in the scientific community at the time, and that some of Anning's 'smaller' discoveries (coprolite, belemnite ink) were just as important as the big impressive dinosaur skeletons. The back matter misleadingly equates coprolites (fossilized feces) to bezoars-- saying that coprolites are "also known as bezoars" rather than that they were mistakenly believed to be bezoars. Overall, I wasn't much impressed with this book--it was just okay, though it could certainly lead curious young readers to explore more about Mary Anning and paleontology.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!