July 17-24, 2011
Book 1: The dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley
Bibliography: Kerley, B. (2001). The dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins. New York: Scholastic.
Summary:
As a young boy, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins loved draw and creating models. Now, as an adult, he was working with archeological dinosaur findings and creating models to replicate the beasts. His new creation would be displayed at the Art & Science Museum in England at the request of the Queen. With the help of Richard Owen, scientist, he was creating perfect models, correct in every detail. The pair sculpted clay figures and created molds of them. Then he would build an iron skeleton with a brick foundation so they would stand without toppling over. Benjamin wanted to be accepted by his scientists for his work. He hosted an event, inviting twenty-one scientists who came for dinner and found that they were seated in an iguanodon model. He went on to complete his other dinosaurs for the museum and when they display was opened, the people were amazed. His desire was to teach people how he had made his creations. He began making scaled down models, wrote books and created posters for people to buy. He was asked to create dinosaurs for Central Park in the United States. Workers began building the facility to house the dinosaurs and Benjamin and his assistant began the process of building the models. William "Boss" Tweed, who was a corrupt politician in New York, didn't want the museum. The building was vandalized and the dinosaurs were destroyed thus ending the dream of the dinosaur facility. Benjamin went to England and worked with archaeologist who had found more dinosaur fossils in Belgium, proving his idea of skeleton shape. He found that people were still visiting the Crystal Palace Park to see the dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins.
My Impression:
I enjoyed this book a great deal. The pictures helped make the words provide for even more of an impact on the reader. Benjamin was a visionary and a very talented man. He was wise to host his dinner party for the scientists in his dinosaur model because it amazed them and provided him a platform for his work. This was a well written-illustrated book and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in dinosaurs or anyone who believes that what they do will impact others and would like a positive role model to support their ideas.
Reviews:
1. School Library Journal
A picture-book presentation about the efforts of Hawkins to erect the first life-sized models of dinosaurs on both sides of the Atlantic. A Victorian artist and sculptor, he was well respected in England, and his reputation insured his being invited to construct replicas of creatures no one had ever seen and to unveil them at the newly constructed Crystal Palace. Kerley's spirited text and Selznick's dramatic paintings bring Hawkins's efforts into clear focus, including his frustrating experience in New York City with Boss Tweed set vandals loose in his workshop. Both author and illustrator provide copious notes of biographical material delineating Hawkins's works, and Selznick's trips to Philadelphia to view a rare scrapbook that is the model for this book's design and to London to see the original Crystal Palace models. Painstakingly researched, written and illustrated with careful attention to detail, this book presents the fervor and spirit of a dedicate4d, little-known individual whose conceptions-however erroneous by today's discoveries-astounded the minds and stirred the imaginations of scientists then involved in the actual birth of paleontology. A distinguished book in every way. - Patricia Manning, formerly of Eastchester Public Library, NY
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2. Publishers Weekly
One look at this amazing-but-true-picture book introducing the little known artist Hawkins and his dream s of dinosaurs, and kids may well forget about Jurassic Park. As a child growing up un 19th century London, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins discovered his passion : drawing and sculpting animal figures, especially prehistoric dinosaurs. His artistic talent and his goal-to build life-sized models of dinosaurs envisioned from scientific fossils-led him to work with noted anatomist Richard Owen and complete a special commission form Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, an installation of dinosaur statues, much of which still stands in contemporary Sydenham, England. During the project, Hawkins courted the scientific community by hosting a lavish New Year's Eve dinner party inside his life-size model of an iguanodon (the bill of fare is reproduced on the final page). Selznick (The Houdini Box, see p. 94) builds to the dramatic moment by showing readers a peek at giant reptilian toes through a parted curtain. Kerley (Songs of Papa's Island) leads readers into further exploration of Hawkins by presenting copious but never dull details of the stages of his life and works, including efforts in the U.S., thwarted by Boss Tweed. Throughout, she suffuses her text with a contagious sense of wonder and amazement. Selznick enthusiastically joins the excitement with his intricate compositions, capturing Hawkins's devotion to his art and depicting the dapper man with wild white hair as a spirited visionary ad showman. The elegant design on tall pages fives the dinosaur models their due from various perspectives, and scenery of the period additionally grounds the work with historic content. Extensive author and illustrator notes denote the extensive (and fun) research both undertook for this extraordinary volume. Ages 6-up.
Suggestion for Use:
This would be an excellent book to discuss dinosaurs and also fossils and things that you find in a museum. There are fantastic pictures that can illustrate the process of model making and the finishing touches to create a life like creature either dinosaur size or smaller scale. The book could also be used to discuss scale for math since there are pictures of different sized models.
Citations:
Manning, P. (2001). [Review of the book The dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by B. Kerley]. School Library Journal, 47(10), 142. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0f1fe052-c211-4bf4-af8a-ac68827957de%40sessionmgr11
&vid=37&hid=9
Roback, D., Brown, J. M., Britton, J., & Zaleski, J. (2001). [Review of the book The dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by B. Kerley]. Publishers Weekly, 248(37), 92. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0f1fe052-c211-4bf4-af8a-ac68827957de%40sessionmgr11&vid=62&hid=9
Book 2: Phineas Gage : a gruesome but true story about brain science by John Fleischman
Bibliography: Fleischman, J. (2002). Phineas Gage : a gruesome but true story about brain science. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Summary:
This is an amazing story of Phineas Gage who survived an accident at the rail yard. Phineas was working with dynamite when the blast unexpectantly discharged sending a 3 foot metal rod through his skull from below his cheek, behind his eye, and out of the top of his head. Phineas sat up almost immediately after the accident and was talking with his employees. He was alert and conversing on his wagon ride back into town and sat on the porch talking about the incident for an hour while waiting for the doctor to arrive. Phineas did recover but his personality was changed from the damage to his brain. He was taken to Boston to be presented to Dr. Bigelow at Harvard and to a panel of doctors for observation. He left the facility after a time and went on to take several jobs, none lasting very long. He finally ended up driving a stagecoach in Chile. Phineas returned to the United States and arrives in San Francisco to stay with his sister, brother-in-law and mother. He began having seizures and eventually died. Phineas Gage and his amazing survival is still discussed in the medical world to this day.
My Impression:
This book depicted an incredible tale of how Phineas Gage survived having a 3 foot metal rod going through his head. The book provided actual photographs and drawings depicting his skull and brain. A bit of the reading gets into medical jargon and is somewhat difficult to understand, but it doesn't take away from the story at all. For the time period and lack of medical knowledge and supplies, it is truly amazing that Phineas survived this accident. I would highly recommend this book.
Reviews:
1. School Library Journal
The fascinating story of yhr construction foreman who survived for 10 years after a 13 pound iron rod shot through his brain. Fleischman relates to Gage's "horrible accident" and the subsequent events in the present tense, giving immediacy to the text. He avoids sensationalizing by letting the events themselves carry the impact. The straightforward description of Gage calmly chatting on the porch 30 minutes after the accident, for example, comes across as horrifying and amazing. The author oresents scientific background in a conversational style and jumps enthusiastically into such related topics as phrenology, 19th century medical practices, and the history of microbiology. Her shows how Gage's misfortune actually played an intriguing and important role in the development of our knowledge o the brain. The present-tense narrative nay cause occasional confusion, since it spans several time periods and dates are not always immediately apparent from the text. Illustrations include historical photographs, one showing the iron bar posed dramatically next to Gage's skull is particularly impressive. Other photos and diagrams help explain the workings of the brain. The work of Gage expert Malcolm Mamillan, cited in the list of resources, seems the likely main source for the quotes and details of Gage's life, but this is not clearly spelled out in the text or appendixes. Like Penny Colman's Corpses, Coffins and Crypts (Holt, 1997) and James M. Deem's Bodies from the Bog (Houghton, 1998), Phineas Gage brings a scientific viewpoint to a topic that will be delightfully gruesome to many readers. - Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
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2. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The name of Phineas Gage may ring a bell for those with a taste for historical footnotes: he's the man who, in 1848, had a three-and-a-half foot iron rod blasted through his head and lived to tell the tale, providing a spectacular subject for nineteenth-century neurologists. Fleischman starts right up with Gage's accident ("It will kill him, but it will take another eleven years, six months, and nineteen days to do so"), effectively setting the scene and explaining the situation (Gage was a blaster on the railroad, and the item of his doom was a tamping rod); he then describes Gage's recovery, his personality changes, his subsequent difficult life, and finally his death. Around and within this narrative is the larger story of science then and science now: the author deftly introduces readers to a diverse range of relevant scientific history as well as more specific beliefs that influenced the medical establishment's understanding of Gage, then goes on to examine subsequent neurological discoveries that have changed and enhanced our understanding of Gage's fate. The book's present-tense narrative is inviting and intimate, and the text is crisp and lucid, combining the personal and the theoretical to dramatic effect and avoiding condescension both to readers and to the unfortunate Gage (though it's odd that he's informally called by his first name throughout in contrast to the other adults). The accessible layout features some superbly effective illustrations, ranging from photographs of nineteenth-century medicine to diagrams, historical and contemporary, of the brain, to stunning images depicting the trajectory of the rod through Gage's head. The riveting topic (the grossout impalement diagrams are a booktalk in their own right) will draw all kinds of readers, and they'll be fascinated even as they're educated. There are no notes, but a glossary, a brief but detailed list of print and electronic resources, and an index are included. - Deborah Stevenson
Suggestion for Use:
This would be an excellent book to use to grab the students attention. The pictures and drawings will engage the students and there would be a lesson in medical availability of the time period, along with the lack of proper medical facilities for clean treatment of injuries. The use of this book could lead into a discussion of how nonfiction books are not all boring and have no substance.
Citations:
Engelfried, S. (2002). [Review of the book Phineas Gage : a gruesome but true story about brain science by J. Fleischman]. School Library Journal, 48(3), 247. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0f1fe052-c211-4bf4-af8a-ac68827957de%40sessionmgr11&vid=163&hid=24
321-322. Retrieved June 9, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 118479540).
