About this item
Once forced to the sidelines of science, Mary Anning is now recognized as the world's first paleontologist. A rousing, empowering nonfiction biography for STEM-minded kids.. At first, Mary Anning collected shells and other curiosities to sell in her family's shop. Then she began discovering fossils that were monumental to changing the course of how we understand life on Earth. But educated male scientists at the time - men who bought and studied Mary's fossils - did not recognize her skills, nor did they include her in their discussions as the field of paleontology emerged.. Self-taught and passionate, Mary was too busy making new discoveries to worry about those rich educated men. Today she is recognized as the first paleontologist. Back matter expands on Mary's remarkable life, including where she lived, relationships, and the tricky dynamic of being a woman of her time.
About the Author
Heidi E.Y. Stemple didn't want to be a writer when she grew up. In fact, after she graduated from college, she became a probation officer in Florida. It wasn't until she was 28 years old that she gave in and joined the family business, publishing her first short story in a book called Famous Writers and Their Kids Write Spooky Stories. The famous writer was her mom, author Jane Yolen. Since then, she has published almost 40 books and numerous short stories and poems, mostly for children.Heidi lives and writes on a big old farm in Massachusetts that she shares with one very large cat who lives inside, and a dozen deer, a family of bears, three coyotes, two bobcats, a gray fox, tons of birds, and some very fat groundhogs who live outside. Once a year, she calls and counts owls for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
