The fiction part of the series The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth is perfect to read aloud from preschool level and introduces what happens underneath the soil as the school bus and children jounery through the layers of the earth. One of our favourite Fossils Books which we have featured here on Rainy Day Mum twice creating some fizzy fossil eggs and fossils from modeling clay Digging up Dinosaurs by Aliki is a factual story about the work of a Paleontologist and covers how some of the fossils that are dug up are formed. There's actually a good book in here, somewhere. The premise of the novel in itself is very promising and exciting, but the author either didn't know what to do with it, or decided to make the first book an entire setup to sell the entire trilogy (yes, of course it's a trilogy! FFS...)

I enjoyed the story, character development, and dialogue. There were plenty of plot twists that I didn’t see coming and that added to the book’s mystique. When I stopped reading to work, I found myself wondering what happened in the book, and replaying parts of the story in my head to see if I could figure more out. It has been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. It’s a first-class sci-fi thriller with perfect pacing. I wanted to finish it, so I did, but it was forced. None of that magic where you can't wait to read more after putting it down for work/sleep/life.So, what's the plot? Well, in a nutshell, the story is set in the recent future, and two agents have been sent to look for an archaeologist who disappeared many years ago in Antarctica. At the same time, an astronaut is the only survivor of a mission to Mars; a mission where a very strange object was discovered. What follows is a fast-paced, highly addictive thriller involving a powerful corporation (The Human Foundation) and enough twists and turns to keep a reader hooked - and possibly slightly dizzy. From the opening – and very tantalizingly written prologue – this is a compelling narrative. The plot is cleverly constructed, the setting is splendidly described, and the pacing is, for the most part, spot on. In terms of writing style, the author's very talented. He works well with speech, and he knows when to keep a sentence short; this is not an author who's fallen into the trap of purple prose. To begin with, I must say I very much enjoyed this thriller. Having recently read The Martian, I was excited to have a go at this novel with its Martian links. And I'm happy to report, although it's very different to Andy Weir’s book, it's very, very good. In fact, I think I might have just discovered a new author to enjoy. Whether you need a story to support your science topic on fossils, a guided reading text for your reading groups or a whole-class story for the end of the school day, this story has something for everyone! Aimed at young children Curious about Fossils provides a great introduction to fossils including information about their Victorian discovery and doesn’t just cover fossils being dinosaurs so looks at plant fossils, sea creatures and even common fossils like sharks teeth.

It just feels that instead of creating an actual story and characters you can relate to, the author chose to focus on a non-existent mystery and a formulatic writing style. (I mean, seriosuly- 45% in, and still you have no idea where the story goes, or what the author wants from you. The writing is truly all over the place).The clearest and sharpest recognition guide to over 500 invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant fossils from around the world. His thorough account of the switch to steam shows quite convincingly that coal did not make Britain great for everyone, and the transition was rooted not in technological superiority or environmental scarcity but in good old fashioned class conflict. Dayton Martindale, In These Times When Jacob and his three best friends head down to the beach on the Jurassic Coast one day, they make a surprising discovery!