Mary Morland in the Time of Dinosaur Discovery

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Beach Lane Books

(Simon & Schuster)

(pub. 2.24.2026)

48 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: Jane Kurtz

   Illustrator: Giselle Potter

Character: Mary Morland

Overview:

"While other little girls were sipping tea perched on their chairs, Mary Morland was given the freedom to spend her time outside exploring. After her mother died, her father sent her to live with a professor who taught Mary how to examine plants, animals, rocks, and fossils. She soaked up all the knowledge she could and captured her discoveries in her journals. Mary continued studying and drawing fossils into adulthood, becoming a prominent fossil hunter whose finds impressed leading scientists of the day.

Eventually, Mary bonded with William Buckland, England’s best fossilist, over their love of paleontology, and the two got married. Together, they introduced the world to Megalosaurus, the first dinosaur that lived on land. At the time, William received credit for their accomplishments while Mary worked from the shadows."

Tantalizing taste:

" In those days, women couldn't vote, couldn't own property, couldn't go to college. Mary did important work for science, but she worked in the shadows.

What did Mary think of that?

She did not write down her reaction.

Neither did anybody else.

But she kept learning and passing her enthusiasms on."

And something more: The author, Jane Kurtz, shares in the Author's Note: "For the most part, this period of putting together dinosaur clues belonged to men. Women weren't allowed to be Fellows in the Geological Society of London. They had to experience the life of science by educating themselves and with the help of male friends and husbands... [Mary's] son became a scientist who wrote with lively humor about all kinds of animals around the world. Frank and his sister Elizabeth are the main reasons we know details of their mother's life and work. Women didn't get to have the spotlight in those days."