Poetry: Sticks n' Stones n' Dinosaur Bones

Sticks n’ Stones n’ Dinosaur Bones

Written by Ted Enik

Illustrated by G.F. Newland

Pixel Mouse House, 2013

42 Pages

 

​Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh are two paleontologists from the late 1800’s that are competing to find the very best dinosaur bones in an era known as “The Bone Wars”. In this very whimsical book, you follow these “instant enemies” while they do the unthinkable to each other just to get ahead in the paleontology world. To what ends will they go to just to find the biggest bones of these prehistoric creatures? Using clever rhymes, Ted Enik captures the revenge seeking bone diggers true selves and uncovers the world of paleontology.This is the first book of Enik’s Unhinged History Book series, so keep your eye out for more coming soon!

 

​G.F. Newland captures the rivalry of Cope and Marsh perfectly in his beautiful and fun illustrations of the prehistoric story. He goes back and forth between soft colors and bold colors. Some pages are light, like they were colored softly with colored pencils. The rest of the pages are brighter and the lines are thicker. These images look like they were drawn with acrylics. Newland does an amazing job at putting the story into action. No two pages are ever the same in this book. Every page is drawn out specifically to what is happening in the text. Some pages are very detailed with newspaper articles and creative backgrounds, while others are simple and straight to the point. G.F. Newland never disappoints in his illustrations, and this book is no different. You are sure to be entranced in the fantasy-like pictures of the book!

 

​This book would be a wonderful book to use during a science or history lesson when learning about the dinosaurs. I would use this book to explain the time era that dinosaur bones were really starting to be studied more deeply. Not only is it informational, but it is a different take on just an everyday story about a historical event. This book would also be beneficial when talking about paleontologist and what they do.  I would also use this book to familiarize the students with a poetic writing and rhyming, since this is not just a typical book of poetry and has an actual plot. I would use this book as a writing activity as well. I would use it as a prompt and example before having the students create a poetic story about their favorite time of history.