Picture Book Biographies of Scientists

...which my kindergartner loved!

Often, my youngest son and I take turns choosing books.  He chooses one, and I read it to him.  Then, I choose one and read it to him.  In this way, I am able to read him his favorites, as well as introduce him to some really great books which he may have passed over during a recent library trip.  On my turns, I try to read nonfiction books, biographies, or a piece of literature. 

Recently, I have found two new-to-us picture book biographies of scientists.  I shared them with my kindergartner son and he loved them both!  Of course, it didn't hurt that both were about his favorite science topics: dinosaurs and rocks. 

Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World, by Tracey Fern tells about Barnum Brown's adventures hunting fossils and dinosaur bones during the early 1900's.  Most of the adventures occur in the United States, but a few foreign places like Cuba and India are briefly mentioned.  The book ends with a one page biographical sketch of Barnum Brown's life, including a photograph of him cleaning a T. Rex skeleton.  {This book has two references to an old earth.  Both of which I easily changed to young earth terminology.}

Rocks in His Head, by Carol Otis Hurst describes the rock collecting passion of her father.  He loved rocks and always had a collection.  At the beginning of the book, Hurst describes how her father owned a filling station and kept a rock collection.  The Depression results in less customers, and the business eventually fails.  The family sells out and moves.  However, as time goes on, her father finds a job as a janitor in a museum, which happens to have a rock collection.  He fixes an inaccurate label one day and finds himself promoted.  His new job is taking care of the rock collection at the museum.