Digging Up is a fascinating and exciting recounting of Kathy Wankel finding the arm and claw of Tyrannosaurus Rex,
followed by the unearthing of the first nearly complete skeleton!

Knowledge from the examination by John Horner and his associates of this T-Rex led to a major change in the way he or she walked and so was displayed in museums
all over the world. ( )

There is a reason that movie franchises like Jurassic Park are so successful. Monstrous dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus Rex, will continue to fascinate humans for the foreseeable future. John Horner is an author and paleontologist who is able to translate his love of these creatures in this text. When he describes putting his hands on the first actual arm bones ever found of a T-Rex, the reader can't help but appreciate the kid in him.

If a reader wants to know what it takes to unearth the skeletal remains of a T-Rex one needs only to read this book. It is packed with step by step photographs of the exhaustive effort to unearth this amazing discovery.
The author shares with the reader just how rare these finds are and how little is still known about them. For example, there has never been a baby T-Rex found or an egg. And until they found these full arm fossils in 1988, scientists could only guess what a complete dinosaur looked like. As it turns out, the arms were even shorter than originally thought.
The author ends the book by inviting the reader to go west to find his or her own set of fossils and asks that if they do, please give him a call so he can join in the dig! ( )

This is a great non-fiction book for children. The authors are very well educated about the field, one is a paleontologist and the other has been on numerous dinosaur digs around the world. This book gives information about the tyrannosaurus rex and how they came to find the fossils. Throughout the book it gives detailed information on how they carefully dug for the T-rex's fossils. It also has real-life pictures of the team throughout the digging experience. I would use this in my classroom to let students imagine they are a real paleontologist at the dig. It might also open up a new career field that students might want to explore. ( )

This book by John Horner describes the exciting story of the "discovery of the first complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found". In the fall of 1988, Kathy Wankel found some fossils on a "small hilltop". She brought the bones to the Museum of Rockies where Horner works. What follows is an exciting narration of how paleontologists work. In "Digging up Tyrannosaurus Rex", we learn the process of excavating fossils and how they help scientists better understand how animals in the past lived and behaved. it is an informative story accompanied by colorful photographs of the actual site.
The positive aspect of the book is definitely the photographs as they transport the reader to the place where the events were taking place. The pictures show how the scientists slowly exposed the bones and the difficulty that they had to face while assembling and transporting the remains. The only negative point that I can think of, is that at some places the explanations became a little dense and hard to follow. While reading it to my seven year old daughter, I could see that she was confused at certain places like how the dinosaur bones separated after falling in the river. Still it is definitely a book that I would recommend for 10-12 year olds. The book gives the readers a deeper understanding of dinosaurs and paleontology. ( )

I really like this book although I don't believe a child that is not very interested in dinosaurs liking this book or sitting through this book being read. This book contains a lot of facts about the T- Rex, however, it is a bit out dated. I could be used with a series of books to show how scientist keep learning new things about dinosaurs. ( )