Book tells tale of 16-year-old's dino discovery

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Imagine how excited you'd be to discover the bones of a creature that lived millions of years ago.

Well, that really happened. A boy named Tyler was walking around in a field near his home, when he almost stepped on an amazing discovery. In the new book "Dinomummy" by Dr. Phillip Lars Manning, with a foreword by Tyler Lyson, you'll read the true story of a dinosaur named Dakota, the boy who found him, and a journey from mud to museum.

From the time he was a little kid, Tyler Lyson loved to hunt for dinosaur bones in the fields near his South Dakota home. He would explore for hours, and he learned to recognize fossils lying on the ground. Tyler was really good at finding bits of dinosaur bones.

One day, when he was 16 years old, Tyler was out looking around and just about to quit for the day, when he spied a couple of vertebrae. He picked them up and looked again. Tyler suddenly realized that he was looking at fossilized dinosaur skin. He put the dino's location in his GPS and hurried home. He e-mailed Dr. Phillip Lars Manning, who is a paleontologist.

Manning flew to South Dakota, and he and Tyler went back to the field. Manning instantly realized that Tyler had found the remains of a hadrosaur, but that wasn't the big news. This hadrosaur was almost intact. Tyler had found a very rare dinomummy. Manning named it Dakota.

Carefully, the scientists removed Dakota from the ground and took him to a laboratory. But how did Dakota die, and what kinds of secrets did he hold?

Remember the excitement you felt when you found a rock that might have, just possibly been a fossil? Your young scientist, adventurer, or dinosaur lover will get that same rush when he or she reads "Dinomummy," because this book is about an average boy who made a not-so-average discovery. If that kid can find a dinosaur, then any kid can do it, right?

With a scientist's eye for fact and enthusiastic, kid-friendly explanations, Manning tells kids about the possible life of Dakota the dinosaur and how his team recovered and sleuthed the dino dirt.

This book is loaded with pictures and science-based artwork, easy-to-understand diagrams, a who's-who of dinosaurs that lived in South Dakota, and a glossary for kids who want to talk the talk.

Perfect for any 8-to-13-year-old future paleontologist, this book also would captivate a younger dinosaur hunter, who can talk Mom or Dad into reading it aloud. If you've got a fossil fiend in your house, "Dinomummy" will be a dino-sized favorite.

Terri Schlichenmeyer's book reviews appear weekly in the View. She can be reached by e-mail at bookwormsez@yahoo.com.