The Deepest Dig

PreS-Gr 1--Caden finds something peeping out of the soil in his backyard, "long as a fence post, hard as a stone." He tries to convince both of his parents that he has uncovered a treasure, but neither believes him. With the help of his neighbor Martha and her winch-equipped truck, he unearths an entire woolly mammoth skeleton, which he and Martha reconstruct together. Clever and colorful illustrations show the mother as brown-skinned, father as white with red hair, and include funny pictoral asides, such as the dog running off with one of the bones, and a human skeleton hanging inside Caden's classroom. These add considerable charm to the story. Still, the narrative teeters between the believable and the fantastic, and never quite lands on either. While the blurb on the jacket mentions that the author was "inspired by the discovery of a mammoth skeleton on a Michigan farm," there is no author's note or back matter to explain this. Susan Lendroth's Here We Go Digging for Dinosaur Bones is a better choice for young paleontologists-to-be. VERDICT While ardent dinosaur fans might get a laugh out of this book, there are better options.--Sue Morgan, Hillsborough City School District, Hillsborough, CA