  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 11/01/2013 Inanimate objects again turn real in this second wordless episode from the author of Chalk (2010). The objects here aren’t drawings, however, but fossils. Breaking apart rocks that he finds along a beach, a lad discovers first a fossilized fern and then a dragonfly. To his open-mouthed amazement, both come to life. Cracking open a third rock ups the ante, as a bit of bone is revealed, and a moment later a leathery flying reptile carries off his dog—improbably—on its back. Despite this whimsy, Thomson’s photorealistic full-bleed and inset paintings create a solid sense of plausibility and depict the action enticingly from often surprising angles and points of view. The boy’s discovery that smashing the fossils makes their revenants disappear sends a problematic message. Still, the dragonfly remains, and in later scenes modern plants and birds appear to create connections between past and present for reflective viewers. - Copyright 2013 Booklist. School Library Journal - 11/01/2013 K-Gr 2—Bursting with sun-washed illustrations that approach photography in their realism and detail, Thomson's wordless picture book features a child out on a walk with his canine companion when he picks up an interesting rock. He trips and drops it and, when it breaks open, he discovers the imprint of a plant inside. With a mysterious twinkling of lights, a live version of the plant appears. He breaks open a second rock containing the shadow of a dragonfly, and suddenly the real thing is darting around him. The third rock he finds contains the outline of a dinosaur's foot, and one can guess what happens next. The dog runs after the flying prehistoric beast, leaping onto its back. Chasing after them, the boy steps on the first rock, breaking it into shards, and the live plant disappears. The boy realizes that if he shatters the dinosaur fossil, the creature will vanish, leaving his dog unharmed (although he seems to be enjoying himself). Thomson's take on the fun of discovering these records written in nature is original and inspiring, encouraging young minds to imagine the plants actually growing, the insects really buzzing, and the dinosaurs truly soaring thousands of years ago. An exceptionally creative effort in combining science and art and turning kids into storytellers.—Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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