Bill ThomsonFossil

I gave this to my 6yr old daughter for Christmas and she loved it! She is really taking off with her reading and I bought this mistakenly thinking it had a word story accompanying the illustrated story. It is all illustrations but they are so beautiful, so amazing that words are not needed to tell this story. I was disappointed for a moment (because I'm trying to encourage my daughters fledging reading skills) until I "read" the story, flipping each page and following the storyline by looking at the amazing illustrations, but I was really impressed with the story and how it is told with those beautiful illustrations. I realized something after I finished the story....there may not be printed words for my daughter to practice on, but she has to use her imagination and critical thinking skills to follow a storyline using illustrations only. For this reason I found Fossil to be a beautiful book, a fun book, AND a learning tool....which was one of the reasons I bought it. I recommend this book to anyone, of any age, it's wonderful.

A boy and his dog at the beach are having a good time until the boy finds a rock with a fossil inside it. Plants start to grow and large insects fly as the boy finds other fossils. It is not so fun when the boy finds a fossil of a flying dinosaur bone! His dog is picked up by the pterodactyl and the boy must figure out how to get his dog back and do away with a dangerous piece of the past that has come to life. The illustrations in this book are wonderful and beautiful. Expressions on the face of the boy are priceless.

Most picture books have words and illustrations to read and enjoy. Wordless picture books lend themselves to interpretation, which is a good thing. Without words to read, your interpretation can be a focus point for discussion, debate, etc. The illustrations are fabulous!

My 7-year-old grandson has always loved dinosaurs. And wordless books. Fossil seemed like the perfect combination. At 99 cents, the book seemed worth a try.The illustrations are magical. The subject matter is ideal for a boy who often begins sentences with "If dinosaur were alive today . . . . " He says he liked the book because the boy didn't give up and used all his skills to save his dog.But the book is too short. The story can be "read" in about 2 minutes.When they were younger, both my grandsons loved David Wiesner's books Mr. Wuffles and Flotsam, as well as Mercer Mayer's Octopus Soup. The wordless books are complex and filled with a range of emotions. Something new can be found in the charming illustrations even after 100 "readings" of these books. And the boys insisted on many, many readings.The three books are, of course, more expensive than Fossil.For a quick one- or two-time read, Fossil is a great choice. For a book to keep, treasure, and read until the book is looking a bit worn, invest in one of the longer ones.

kids loved this book! Pictures were amazing. My class loved figuring out the story from the pictures since it has no words.

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 am 10 and my brother is 8. You don't read it, the story is in the pictures. It was interesting to see the magic the boy did with the rocks and fun to see how he fixed it. My Grandma said it reminded her of books by Chris Van Allsburg. She liked it, too. Anybody can read this picture book.

Misleading description - there are about 4 words in this whole book and it takes about 2 minutes to read. Maybe fun for preschoolers, but not for elementary school aged kids, as billed.