The 50 State Fossils, by Yinan Wang, illustrations by Jane Levy

Does your state have a state fossil?  Most do, and those that don't usually have a state dinosaur or state stone instead.  In Yinan Wang's The 50 State Fossils: A Guidebook for Aspiring Paleontologists, we learn about each state's fossil (or dinosaur or stone), getting an introduction to the fascinating world of paleontology.

One of the surprises to the uninformed (and the target age of the book is elementary school students who are, by definition, uninformed!) is the presence of aquatic animal fossils in land-locked states like Kentucky and Nevada.  Wang works in discussions of the changing geography of North America.

For each state, Wang describes the fossil, dinosaur, plant, or whatever in a few paragraphs, sometimes including details about the fossil's discovery and addition as the state fossil.  He includes photographs, a map of where the fossil is found in the state, and illustrations by Jane Levy of what the original organism would have looked like.

The fossils from from tiny invertebrates to large reptiles and mammals.  (The mammoth is a popular state fossil.)  I'm guessing the states that got in early on the state fossil game snatched up the cool ones like triceratops and stegosaurus, leaving lowly creatures like the trilobite to Ohio and Pennsylvania.  Just kidding, I'm sure those states are rightly proud of their small but interesting ocean-floor-dwelling creatures.

I was a dinosaur-loving kid many years ago.  I was also so jealous when I would read about a kid who found a fossil out on a creek bed or something.  The 50 State Fossils is sure to foster curiosity and passion about the creatures and plants that occupied our space many millions of years ago.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!