Barnum Brown: Dinosaur Hunter

by David Sheldon

Barnum Brown had one ambition as a to grow up to be a great dinosaur hunter. And that's just what he did when he was hired by the American Natural History Museum―working to build their astounding collection.
Barnum had a knack for finding dinosaur bones, a skill that rivaled the paleontologists before him. His most amazing discovery was uncovering the largest carnivore that ever walked the the "tyrant lizard king," Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Dig into the life of the greatest dinosaur hunter of all time with this exciting biography of Barnum Brown―the best noses in the business for sniffing out dinosaur bones.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Science, Picture Books, History, Childrens, Historical

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2006

About the author

David Sheldon is the illustrator of many books and more recently the author of biographies for children. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Margit and their three children.

Reviews

[Roozy Doozy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s about a dinosaur hunter who discovered the first T-Rex fossil. It’s a very good book.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Barnum's Bones first and was as surprised to find it an AR level 6 as I was to find this one a level 6--both books seem to be written for younger than 6th grade. That said,the end notes on this title are more specific regarding dinosaur names. I am thinking of reading these together for a compare/contrast lesson. This title gave a list of museums with dinosaur skeletons and I am hoping at least one of them has a good virtual tour.

[Laura McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently, my 6 year old daughter wants to be a paleantologist so our local children's librarian recommended this book. She enjoyed it a lot. It was interesting to read about the Great Dinosaur hunts of the last century. Barnum Brown discovered several new species, including the first 2 T-rex skeletons!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grades: 4-6
Genre: biography
This book would be very interesting to you if your interested in dinosaurs. Which Im not to interested in that, but the book was good. It had really good pictures to look at, while learning about Brown who became a dinosaur hunter. Gives you hope and inspires you to follow your dreams just like he did in the story. Rate 4-5

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elementary guide to early 1900's dinosaur bones hunter Barnum Brown and his great discoveries including the T Rex.

[Meg. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is filled with many interesting names and facts. Sheldon has written the chronology of Brown’s life to flow from one page to the next and keeps readers interested with the details in the illustrations. The pictures look both smooth and textured, depicting each stage in Barnum’s life with a clarity that puts the reader right in his hot, dusty shoes. Sheldon does an excellent job portraying the time era, both with explanations in the text and within the pictures. The way the illustrations represent the age of the dinosaurs is also very interesting—there is a dreamlike quality to the images that emphasizes the fact that the dinosaurs are being imagined.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barnum Brown Dinosaur Hunter is a non-fictional account of a young scientist at the forefront of a new science: paleontology. Barnum’s passion and nose for finding dinosaur bones lead to the unearthing of several undiscovered species of dinosaur, including the never before seen Tyrannosaurus Rex. David Sheldon penned and illustrated a fascinating and beautiful book that kids will love and learn from. The afterward does a nice job of delving even further into the rivalry’s between paleontologists in their race to find the remains of these fascinating long gone residents of our planet.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography is very informative and concise. I learned a lot from reading it. It was a real pleasure to follow Barnum Brown's exploits as he made his discoveries. Also, the loose peppering of odd facts, like that he would wear bizarre outfits to further his appeal as a showman really helped with the overall appeal of the book. It was a strong biographical account and the illustrations are pleasant and cheerfully presented. Overall, a true delight of a story.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the first time I saw this book, I was watching the cover on back side. You can see the archaeologist is respect for these bones which he had discovered from earth show up those of specimens in some exhibitions. I found something interesting on the front cover page. A tyrannosaurus is staring at the dinosaur hunter while its bone is being dug by a dinosaur hunter. When you see the back side of the cover, you are watching a brontosaurus’s figure. It is very cool.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I still do not understand the fascination with dinosaurs ... the kiddos at my school love them. This is a nicely accessible picture book biography to encourage casual readers. Not quite enough info for research ... but more than enough to pique curiosity to look further!

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of wordy for a kid's book, but it was full of facts (facts about Brown, not dinosaurs).
I'd never heard of Barnum Brown before reading this book, so it was cool to find out that he discovered T. Rex.
Really 3.5 stars, but my son really enjoyed the pictures.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paleontologists study fossils (not just dinosaurs). That's my gripe.

Joking aside, this is a fun and simple picture book biography of an early paleontologist. Includes additional information, and a resource guide (with sources).

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's about a guy named Brown who finds fossils. B

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting picture book biography! I confess I never heard of Barnum Brown before reading this book!

[Ratforcekids · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a picture book biography about a man who uncovered one of the largest carnivores that ever walked the earth: Tyrannosaurus Rex. A great story for budding palentologists.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book with nice illustrations, but it skips over a lot of his life story and the text is a little stilted.

[Kiddo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps 5 stars is overly generous. I haven't read anything else about Barnum Brown. Still, we've enjoyed this.

[Rani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging introduction to the world of the famous dinosaur hunter and his most famous find that continues to inspire us today.

[Madeline Wakem · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever wanted to know who found many of the famous dinosaurs we know today, read this book!