I read this book with my six year old daughter and her first grade class. The story is told from the viewpoint of Mary Anning, a young girl, who along with her brother supplemented her widowed mother's income by the selling of "curiousities" which they found on the beach near their home in England. These curiousities turned out to be fossils of dinosaurs. (The book takes place in the 19th century when such things were still not common knowledge). It is a wonderful story simply told with beautiful illustrations. It is simple emough for a first or second grader to read by themselves with a few assists over the "hard" words. It is particularly good because it is also a true story! There is a one page addendum at the end telling the rest of the Mary Anning's life and how she, although never leaving the small village where she was born, became one of the foremost dinosaur experts of her time.

Galileo's Treasure Box by Catherine Brighton [with an introduction by Dava Sobel of Galileo's Daughter and Longitude fame] is a great children's book that will hopefully enjoy a wider readership the second time around. Originally titled Five Secrets In A Box [1987, E.P. Dutton], the book tells the story of Virginia, eldest daughter of Galileo Galilei, and her curiosity about some items her father kept in a gold box. Through a simple text and exquisitely done illustrations, Brighton gives you a view of what it would have been like to be a curious kid in the house of a scientist during the time he made his great discoveries. Virginia finds the lenses for a telescope, colored filters for viewing the sun, and a feather, all in a gold box on her dad's desk. The book leaves Virginia asking why her dad would keep a feather and this will leave the door open for a young, curious reader to find out more. I fell in love with the book when it originally came out and gave many copies as presents. Later, when the original hardback was remaindered, I bought all the copies from several local bookstores and continued to give them as presents. If you know a young reader with readers for parents, give the child a copy of the delightful Galileo's Treasure Box by Catherine Brighton and give their folks a copy of the equally delightful Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel. Hopefully many people, young and old, will discover the story of Virginia and Galileo Galilei.

The illustrations are the best part of this book. Beautifully detailed, in rich colors, they do a better job of telling the story than the text itself. The text is disjointed at times, and when I have read this book aloud to children they often get confused with the story.