Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs

Well-known wildlife photographer Nic Bishop wrote and illustrated Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs. Bishop chronicles the work of Cathy Forster, a paleontologist, on an expedition to Madagascar. Her area of interest is bird evolution and whether birds evolved from dinosaurs. This true story is an intriguing one, well told and illustrated. The account of how Cathy's childhood interest in dinosaurs and fossils led her to her profession should be of particular interest to young readers. Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs is part of the excellent Scientists in the Field series. I recommend the book for ages 9-14.

While Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs does, as the subtitle suggests, focus on An Expedition to Madagascar, the nonfiction book is also the story of one particular scientist. Cathy Forster first became interested in dinosaurs as a young child. Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs recounts Forster’s growing interest in dinosaurs that led her to a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and on to the State University of New York. There Forster began the study of a great mystery – the evolution of birds, including their relationship to dinosaurs. This study led to several expeditions to Madagascar and the bulk of Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs is devoted to what Cathy Forster and other paleontologists discovered on one such expedition.

What makes Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs so effective is all of the details author and wildlife photographer Nic Bishop provides through his words and stunning color photographs: details that help the reader to feel what it must have been like for the scientists. For example, Bishop points out the lack of comfort in the scientists’ camp in a way that young readers can easy relate to: “Dinner is the same most nights – rice and beans. There’s no television, no phone to call home from, no refrigerator to open for a cold drink. There’s no hot shower, not even any piped water at all!”

Bishop provides similar details about the joys of the expedition, including the friendliness of the villagers and the excitement of discovering many fossils related to the research the scientists are doing. Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs is filled with photographs of Cathy and the other scientists excavating in several quarries. It also includes photos of the villagers and information about the scientists’ plan to help raise funds for a village school.

It becomes clear that just because an expedition comes to an end, it does not mean that the research ends. Throughout Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs Nic Bishop provides a clear description of the work Forster is doing on bird evolution, emphasizing that there are no firm answers yet, just questions. Twelve large crates full of fossils from Madagascar are shipped to the State University of New York and research by Cathy Forster and other scientists continues.

Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs is a book I recommend for independent readers ages 9-14 who enjoy nonfiction books and/or are interested in paleontology. It also makes a good read aloud for interested kids ages 8 and older. The entire Scientists in the Field series would make a nice addition to any elementary or middle school library.