Fossil

Amazon.com Review Click to view and print PDF Click to view and print PDF A Look Inside Fossil on the Kindle Fire Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge From Publishers Weekly Thomson follows his wordless picture book Chalk with another close encounter of the prehistoric kind. This time, a boy finds that when he splits open stones he Finds along the shore of a lake, the plant and animal fossils inside them come to life. The boy trips after picking up a fist sized stone, revealing a fossil fern leaf embedded within. Thus freed, the fern springs up in front of the boy and his cocker spaniel; dazzling light indicates its miraculous nature, and its source is made clear as the boy holds up the fossil to compare it to the fern. A dragonfly is released next, but when the boy releases a huge, scaly pterodactyl, it carries his dog away, and he must work out how to send the predator back to its extinct state. The pacing is tight, and Thomson’s lifelike art stuns on every page, enlivened further by dynamic angles, confident use of panel sequences and full-bleed spreads, and vivid close-ups of the boy’s shocked face. If anything, this adventure is even more effective than its predecessor. (September 2013) From Booklist 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. — John Peters , November 2013 Review “[A] beautiful exercise for the young imagination.” ― San Francisco Book Review About the Author Bill Thomson was immediately embraced by the children’s book community when Karate Hour was released with his dramatic, extraordinary illustrations. This book was followed by Building with Dad , Baseball Hour , and Soccer Hour , all by Carol Nevius. But when Bill’s own book, Chalk , that he conceived and illustrated without an author―was released in spring 2010, his reputation really took off. That book was short-listed for the Caldecott Award and has sold upwards of 30,000 print copies. Bill is also Associate Professor of Illustration at the University of Hartford. He and his wife, Diann, have three sons and live in Southington, CT. Read more