Bodies from the Past

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-Dixon tells the stories of different discoveries about dinosaurs, touching on historical findings such as Gideon and Mary Ann Mantell's unearthing of bone fragments in 1820, and the "bone wars" between paleontologists Cope and Marsh during the white settlement of the American West. More recent controversies are discussed, too, such as whether or not the creatures were warm blooded, how to configure their bones, and what caused their demise. Dixon does well to focus on the continual discovery of new dinosaurs and new theories. This gives the material a different twist, even though much of the information is available in other books. Place's title explores the preserved remains of people around the world. She mentions jade burial suits in China, mummies preserved in peat bogs, and the famous "Ice Man" discovered recently in Europe. Bodies doesn't contain quite the collection of photos found in Jim Putnam's Mummy (Knopf, 1993), but is more informative. Clear, full-color illustrations and photographs interact well with both texts.Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library