She Sold Seashells. The curious Mary Anning by Wolfgang Grulke

She Sold Seashells – at a glance

The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Fossil hunter scientist woman palaeontology.
Children’s book title: She Sold Seashells … and Dragons. The curious Mary Anning.
Children’s author: Wolfgang Grulke.
Genre: Children’s nonfiction, biography.
Published by: At One Communications.
ISBN: 9781916039452.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12 year-olds.
First published: Hardback May 2023.
This children’s book is ideal for: Children interested in interested in dinosaurs, palaeontology and geology.


She Sold Seashells … and Dragons. The curious Mary Anning. Re-imagined by Wolfgang Grulke

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Our review:

Sea dragons, floods, tragedy, collapsing cliffs and the struggles of an intelligent woman facing poverty and inequality. This story about Mary Anning and her achievements is fascinating. For adults or children who are interested in dinosaurs, palaeontology, geology, inspiring people or science, this book is a must.

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If you’re planning to visit Lyme Regis or any of the museums displaying Mary Anning’s discoveries, I would recommend reading this. It follows Mary’s life from her birth to her death and all of it is inspirational and intriguing.

What I like the most is how the book explains that Mary Anning learned some skills from her father but other than that she was self-taught. This amazing story is told using brand-new AI images, which add depth to Mary Anning’s life and will help readers visualize her achievements.

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Each double-page spread has an image to set the scene and fluid elements of the story mixed with facts and information. This makes it an easy read but, packed with intrigue that pulls you into her world and her struggles. This isn’t just a journey through her life but how she opened up “new ideas about the history of the Earth and life in the Jurassic, 200 million years ago.” She transformed beliefs about evolution, influenced science and contributed hugely to palaeontology.

She Sold Seashells is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.

Many thanks to At One Communications for the review copy.

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If you like She Sold Seashells … and Dragons. The curious Mary Anning. Re-imagined by Wolfgang Grulke you might also like: our reviews of The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals by Mike Barfield, Evolution by Sarah Darwin and Eva-Maria Sadowski, Absolutely Everything by Christopher Lloyd, Prehistoric Beasts by Dr Dean Lomax, illustrated by Mike Love, Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia edited by Christopher Lloyd and Darwin’s Dragons by Lindsay Galvin.


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About Joanna Hadley

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I have worked within childcare for the past 34 years and have been a foster carer for ten of these years. My expertise is supporting traumatized children and their social and emotional health. I have used social stories to support children, build self esteem and to encourage interests. I have written two children's books. Website | Reviews by Joanna Hadley