Customer Reviews

Fossil

This is a perfect picture book for teachers to teach descriptive writing in elementary school, and beyond. Except for the few brief setup words on the inside flap, and the introduction page defining what a fossil is, the story is completely told through the real life styled illustrations of author Bill Thomason of award winning "Chalk" fame. Each illustration was hand crafted using acrylic paint, and colored pencils which lends an almost photographic realism to the story.

The story starts with a young boy walking with his dog on a deserted beach, when he happens upon a fossilized plant that incredibly morphs into something amazing. From there the boy and his dog find themselves on a wondrous adventure of magical proportions. All told through a series of picture panels that detail story concepts, mood, plot, and action.

My students began to zero in on the smallest of details in each picture, developing, and broadening their verbal and written powers of description. This segued into my students creating their own wordless stories, as well as strengthening their written compositions.

The hardcover paper quality and binding is of excellent quality, and will sure to inspire young writers for years to come.

Fossil allows a child to use their imagination to tell this story. My grandson loves this story and "Chalk". He never grows tired of telling someone else the story even though he cannot read

I was delighted to see another book authored by my favorite illustrator, Bill Thomson. I bought the book at my local bookstore and ordered two more for my grandchildren from Amazon. The illustrations in Fossil are wonderful, as always. Bill Thomson's attention to detail is fascinating. The pictures look as real as any photograph that I've ever seen.

Professor Thomson has illustrated a number of children's books, but I find his recent books (Chalk and Fossil) to be his best work. These two books, with Thomson illustrations only, need no words. I have enjoyed many hours with my grandchildren "reading" Chalk. They tell me the story, based solely on Professor Thomson's pictures. I look forward to "reading" Fossil with them once their books arrive.

Being a retired educator, I love that the Thomson books have corresponding educator's and kids' activity guides. What a great way to get children to use their imaginations and learn at the same time. Rather than spoon-feed information to the children, let's help them discover facts on their own. Let's guide our children through fun storytelling activities. Take your students' minds back to prehistoric times and let them explain what cave paintings represented.

My final comment comes from a retired educator's opinion, I love to see that Professor Thomson is passing his knowledge on to the next generation of illustrators. What a wonderful legacy he will leave!

Bill stimulates the imagination of his young readers with his amazing artwork.
My grandchildren climb in bed with their parents regularly to "read" Chalk to them.
They were so excited to receive Fossil as a Christmas gift (as were their parents).

Recently gave a copy of "Fossil" to a friend's second grade grandson. His eyes just lit up as he looked at the illustrations and told me his version of the fossil adventure. So many details that stimulate a child's imagination can be gleaned from each drawing as the story progresses. Adults are amazed at the quality of the art work as well!

This book was effectively a comic book. My nine and twelve years old liked it well enough but it was very short says my twelve year old.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful. They capture the expressions of the boy and the dog. The expressions really tell the story. I will buy this book for my little nephew.

My niece's Springer Spaniel Katie was the model for this book. She told me the author took over 700 pictures of her to capture all the movements depicted in the book and knowing Katie he got it down right the first time. I was happy to be able to get a copy of the book and I know this book will stir imaginations in children.

I recognized right away the illustrations of Bill Thomson. He has such a way with taking acrylic paint and colored pencil to create art that mimics realistic photos in a remarkable way! Just from seeing the cover of the book and title, I had a feeling my kids and I would be swept away visually. But I had not imagined how much we honestly would be!

There are no words in this book. In fact, it'll change every single time you carefully examine each page gone through. I wasn't sure at first what I thought about that but in the end, I embraced it. The illustrations not only speak for themselves but so do you and the child interpreting each page in their own way. Personally listening to both my son age 3 and my daughter age 5 1/2 narrate this story all on their own has been quite the pleasure. Let the creativity commence!

So what is it about? Well, it's about a boy and his dog that are out exploring. The boy ends up tripping over a rock that is actually a fossil! This was quite exciting for my kids to see and they keep asking if we can go out and find one to look at hands-on. After coming across the first fossil, the boy finds more and then all of sudden those fossils that were found come to life! There's a fern, a dragon fly, and a pteranodon! It's quite thrilling to see how the boy and his dog react to fantastical situation happening around them!

If you are a teacher whether at home or at school, you'll be pleased to find that Amazon.com has a link to a educators and kid activity guide ( for k-2nd grade) for this book! These guides are done very well and I know I'll be using them with my Kindergarten aged daughter!

I would recommend this book if your child has an interest in fossils and dinosaurs. Perhaps even if they don't this book might open the door for them to learn even more. It's a delight for the eyes and it gives the viewer a chance to be extremely creative mixing a bit of science and fantasy together.

****1/2
I found this science enhancing book, for kids at early age, a good match for my six years old curious grandson. The book has an introduction to explains how fossils are formed, and how valuable they are for learning about prehistoric life on our planet earth. A fossil is an article either from a plant or an animal, that has been preserved by nature for a long time. It may be a petrified shell fish, or a woolly mammoth, frozen for thousands of years in the icy ground. Sometimes it's the skeleton of a dinosaur that has turned hard like stone.

The book uses full-color pictures to tell the story of a boy, who while taking a walk along the shore of a lake, with his cocker spaniel, finds three different fossils. Going for a hike, the boy trips on a fossil, that comes to life, revealing its origin as an ancient complex leave plant. The boy splits open two other fossils which also come to life, a dragonfly, and a pterosaurs. When the boy releases a huge, scaly pterodactyl, it carries his dog away, that he must find out how to send the beast back to its petrified state.

Artistically told without a word, this visual story will surely inspire first grader Oliver and instruct him creativity. Thomson’s dramatic, extraordinary illustrations, are vivid art on every page, enlivened further by exploratory geometry, and active shots of the boy’s shocked face. The mix of Fossil with the flight of fancy is thrilling as a kid breaks open fossils and sees live versions of the fossils appear. But this book will tell Oliver, a young artist in his own right, how can you make a fossil, too; the imprint of an ancient leaf in a rock.