Jane Kurtz – Mom Read It

Get ready for Women’s History Month with Mary Morland in the Time of Dinosaur Discovery

Posted on February 23, 2026February 21, 2026 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Mary Morland in the Time of Dinosaur Discovery, by Jane Kurtz/Illustrated by Giselle Potter, (Feb. 2026, Beach Lane Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9781665955546

Ages 4-8

This picture book biography of one of the first female paleontologists, Mary Morland, asks thought-provoking questions of the reader. Mary, born “in a time of ribbons and lace”, preferred exploring outside to sitting inside like a “prim little miss”. When her mother died and her father sent her to live with childless friends, she turned to studying and journaling the world around her, ultimately marrying a fellow student of her mentor. Kurtz’s questions ask the reader to put themselves in Morland’s place and think about what they would do in her positions: would they feel sad if their father sent them off to live with friends after losing their mother? Would a scientific-minded child spend their days thinking about clothes, or giggling about being empty-headed? Much of the story centers on Mary being the silent partner, a woman in a man’s world to the point where her own husband didn’t credit her with illustrating his fossil collections, but she never emerges as a shrinking flower or a victim. Mary Morland takes up space in her world, whether helping her husband with his teaching or passing her love of fossils and science to her own children. Potter’s watercolor illustrations have a vintage feel and place the reader in the time frame. Back matter includes an author’s note, additional resources, and sources. A great choice for picture book biographies and STEM/STEAM collections, and an excellent choice for Women’s History Month.

Mary Morland in the Time of Dinosaur Discovery has starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.

The Oxford Museum of Natural History has an online exhibition dedicated to Mary Morland. The History of Scientific Women webpage has a profile on Morland, as does the Geological Society of London.

★ “A delightful STEAM biography that spotlights a female scientist who deserves to be better known.” – Kirkus (starred)

★ “Wry interrogative narration energizes this engaging portrait.” – Publishers Weekly (starred)

Jane Kurtz was born in Portland, Oregon, but spent most of her childhood in Ethiopia. Jane speaks about being an author at schools and conferences and is the volunteer director of the bilingual book project at Open Hearts Big Dreams . She is the author of many books for children, including The Bone Wars, illustrated by Alexander Vidal; What Do They Do with All that Poo?, illustrated by Allison Black; The Clues Are In the Poo: The Story of Dinosaur Scientist Karen Chin, illustrated by Francisco Riolobos; Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros, illustrated by Claire Messer; Oh Give Me A Home: A Mostly True Story in Verse; and the American Girl book Lanie. To learn more, visit janekurtz.com.

Giselle Potter has illustrated many books, including Once Upon a Fairy Tale House by Mary Lyn Ray, Try It! by Mara Rockliff, All by Himself? by Elana K. Arnold, and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, as well as her own Tell Me What to Dream About, This Is My Dollhouse, and The Year I Didn’t Go to School, about traveling through Italy with her parents’ puppet troupe when she was eight. She lives in Rosendale, New York, with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at GisellePotter.com.

picture books, Uncategorized

Tales from the TBR: The Bone Wars by Jane Kurtz & Alexander Vidal

Posted on August 23, 2024August 22, 2024 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Bone Wars, by Jane Kurtz/Illustrated by Alexander Vidal, (Nov. 2023, Beach Lane Books), $18.99, ISBN: 9781534493643

Ages 5-8

The Bone Wars! It’s a tale of friendship gone wrong! With dinosaurs! And exploding fossils! Kurtz writes history with a sense of humor that will catch a reader’s attention, describing the 19th-century race between two paleontologists – O.C. Marsh and Edward Cope – who go from friends to rivals. Marsh and Cope were besties – like Taylor Swift-level besties, writing letters to one another and naming dinosaurs after each other until the fateful day when Marsh deightedly poined out big mistake in a paper Cope had published. After that, they were DONE. Never, ever, ever getting back together. And thus began the Bone Wars: a race between the two paleontologists to make the next big discovery; and there were no punches pulled. Marsh and Cope pulled every dirty trick they could to get ahead. Spy on each other’s workers? Check. Leave fossils from different animals in the hopes of messing up a discovery? Yup. Blowing up smaller bones so the other team couldn’t have them? Yessireee. Did a final winner emerge from the Bone Wars? Yes: the public, because generations of people have benefitted from all of these discoveries, but the besties never made up. Kurtz gives readers the facts behind one of the more interesting rivalries in natural history, with wry commentary and reactions – “Hoo boy!” – is a favorite – when discussing some of the duo’s darker moments. Vidal’s digital illustrations are cartoon realistic and easily move between history and modernity. Back matter includes notes from the author and illustrator and selected sources and reading. This is a fun addition to biography and natural history collections.

picture books, Preschool Reads

Oh no! Chickens on the Loose!

Posted on May 18, 2021May 17, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Chickens on the Loose, by Jane Kurtz/Illustrated by John Joseph, (May 2021, West Margin Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781513267241

Ages 4-8

A group of urban chickens take to the streets to cause madness and mayhem in this hilarious rhyming story. They wreak havoc at a thrift shop; stop at a yoga studio, descend upon food trucks, and listen to no one! The rhyming theme gets some breathing room from the repetitive phrase, “‘STOP!’ [from a human in the story] “But the chickens will not stop.” It’s the perfect opportunity to have your readers call out to these menacing chickens – or hand out some printable masks from SuperColoring, and have your own group of chickens cluck and bock-bock their way through the story. Informational back matter includes helpful facts on raising and keeping urban chickens, and the endpapers are grey-blue and white spreads of feathers and chicken tracks. Colorful, cartoony artwork adds to the fun of the story, with a frenetic group of chickens racing through an urban landscape and the town’s citizens in various states of dismay, surprise, even delight. Absolute fun, and I can’t wait to read this at my next storytime, most likely while wearing a chicken mask.

Get classroom resources, a peek inside the book, and a fun video at this page on Jane Kurtz’s website!

Jane Kurtz is an award-winning children’s book author, speaker, educator, and she is on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children’s and YA Literature. She is a co-founder of the nonprofit Ethiopia Reads, an organization that brings books and literacy to the children in Ethiopia, where Jane grew up. She also heads the creative team of Ready Set Go Books, a project of Open Hearts Big Dreams to create fun, colorful, local language books for people in Ethiopia. She is the author of many books for children, including River Friendly River Wild, winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite award for picture book text, and What Do They Do With All That Poo?, a finalist to the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Excellence in Science Books list; it has also been named to several state reading lists, voted on by children. To learn more, visit her website: janekurtz.com.

Instagram: @writerjanie

Twitter: @janekurtz