It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

The Fossil Hunter

How Mary Anning unearthed the truth about the dinosaurs

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

*WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2024*

Unearth the mysteries of ancient fossils and discover the life and legacy of Mary Anning in this beautifully illustrated, fact-filled book for curious young readers.


Have you ever found something mysterious? Something where you had no idea what it was but you had this feeling it was important, that it held a secret?

Mary Anning was a fossil hunter, scouring the cliffs and seashores of Lyme Regis for strange rocks and shells. Monstrous marine reptiles and dinosaurs had once reigned the land and seas here millions of years ago, disappearing only to leave mysterious traces for humans to puzzle over.

Mary's fossils paved the way for modern palaeontology and helped to piece together a picture of how the dinosaurs lived and evolved. Little did she know that 200 years later we would still be talking about her amazing discoveries and how she influenced our understanding of the history of the earth.

Beautifully illustrated by brand-new talent Kate Winter, with stunning panoramic fold-out pages, this is a book to treasure and to read again and again, perfect for all fans of natural history and curious young explorers.


'A captivating story [...] wonderfully atmospheric' - JUNO magazine

Reviews

  • 'A captivating story [...] wonderfully atmospheric'
    JUNO magazine

About the author

Kate Winter

Kate Winter currently lives in Cambridge, England. She studied a BA in Fine Art at the Slade in London and then an MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Her MA project about the discovery of prehistoric cave painting won the 2019 Ronald Searle Award for Creativity, came runner up in the 2019 Batsford Prize and was highly commended in the 2020 V&A Student Illustration Awards. Kate loves history and real-life stories and can think of nothing better than bringing that to life for children; giving them access to explore the past through imagery and mysterious tales.
Learn More

More from this Author

Sign up to the Puffin newsletter

Stories, ideas and giveaways to help you spark young imaginations