Digging for Bird Dinosaurs : An Expedition to Madagascar

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: A great book for any young person who is interested in dinosaurs and their fossils.The book tells the story of paleontologist Cathy Forster and her colleagues as they undertake a fossil hunting expedition to the island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa.The "bird dinosaurs" they hope to find will help prove the relationship between modern day birds and dinosaurs.The book details all the steps involved in finding and recovering the fossils,but never gets too technical so young readers will have no trouble following the story.There is also some background info about Madagascar and its people.Many interesting photos illustrate the book.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This is a fabulous book for children doing research about the work of paleontology at Manhattan New School. We used the book in our first grade class to help answer the children's many questions. We actually replicated what Cathy and the other paleontologists did in Madagascar - we dug up bones (chicken, cow, pig), wrapped bones, and even pretended to return them to Madagascar when we finished our research. The team actually opened schools and clinics for the people of Madagascar - what an inspiration for our students.