This book has everything that students like -- dinosaurs, competition, rhyme, and colorful illustrations. Younger students may need some explanation to entirely understand the underhandedness of the paleontologists' behavior as they competed to outdo the other, but they should enjoy this book.

I read this book with my 6 year old dinosaur fan and he found the story hard to follow. His favourite part was the end when he found out about the dinosaurs they did discover. He also found it funny when they were making up dinosaurs. While the rhyming was good in places it was possibly beyond its intended readers.

My first impression was that the book was very imaginative and that the illustrations were adorable. This book will appeal to children and parents passing by and give a brief education into the Great Bone Rush. I enjoyed being educated in an unconventional way and the hilarious names for the fraudulent dinosaur discoveries. I would recommend this book to parents with inquisitive kiddos and to teachers looking for a way start a conversational segway into paleontology.

I’m always interested in children’s books which encourage children to read about science. And so, I was predisposed to liking a book about dinosaurs, since dinosaurs, and evolution, are such a sticky topic in recent times in the US. Providing kids with information about paleontology and the ages of dinosaur skeletons is so important.

While this book seeks to make children enjoy the topic of the famous paleontology Bone Wars of the latter half of the 1800’s, I’m concerned that their emphasis on Cope and Marsh’s overblown claims may fan the flames of dinosaur and evolution doubters by emphasizing what these men did wrong instead of the many things they did right. After all, Marsh was a respected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and both scientists, without the aid of modern techniques, would have been unable to discern species that should be consolidated any more than a person could predict, without modern methods, that the remains of a tadpole were the same species as the remains of a frog.

This is a nicely illustrated book with a rhyming structure. I just hope emphasis is placed on the end pages- what these two men gave us in terms of paleontological science.

'Sticks 'n Stones 'n Dinosaur Bones' by Ted Enik with illustrations by G.F. Newland is a funny picture book about unscrupulous paleontologists.

Between 1865 and 1890 there was a period of time called "The Bone Wars" in which competing scientist tried to find the best dinosaur fossils. This book is about the feud between Edward Drinker Cope and O. Charles Marsh. In the race to outdo each other, they turned to unethical methods to compete. They are also credited with naming some famous dinosaurs, and that is given at the end of the book.

The text rhymes in a way I can only call 'Seuss-like' and the illustrations are as wacky as the verse. The story is silly enough, even though it is true. I think young readers would get some laughs about these grown-ups and the means they go to in order to compete. That subtle lesson might even catch on with young readers.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Schiffer Publishing Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

***This book was reviewed for Schiffer via Netgalley

In Sticks, 'N’ Stones, 'N’ Dinosaur Bones author Ted Enik introduces young readers to the 'bone wars’ and the birth of paleontology, the study of dinosaurs. Edward Drinker Cope and O Charles Marsh were two of the earliest paleontologists, and they loathed one another. Engaging in behaviour worthy of the most spoiled toddlers, each employed tactics such as sabotage and slander against the other. They were both stubborn, vengeful men, not above destroying fossils, lying, stealing, and blackmail to get their way.

Cope set to work fossil hunting in Colorado Territory, while Marsh started his work in Nebraska, each trying to find the best fossils so that their sponsoring universities would gain great acclaim. New discoveries turned to games of one-upmanship, and they disgraced themselves trying to be number one. Still, despite the ending to their careers, they did further the study of dinosaurs, and help grow the field of paleontology.

The story is written in clever, rhyming poetry, with beautiful illustrations covering each page. At the end of the story there's a small glossary of dinosaur named by each Bone Hunter. The glossary has more information on how the feud actually began. Marsh noticed Cope had placed the head of an aquatic dino on its long tail rather than its equally long neck. As the field of paleontology grew more refined, the number of 'new’ dinosaurs discovered by Marsh and Cope dwindled from 142 to a mere 32.

I find it so amusing that I received this book for review at the same time I got M Crichton's Dragon Teeth, an adult-oriented novel of the same feud. My cubs really enjoyed this book. We read it on my tablet, but ending up getting a hardcopy.

📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended for kids who love dinosaurs.

Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones written by Ted Enik and illustrated by G.F. Newlan is currently scheduled for release on September 28 2017. This is the first book in the Unhinged History series brings to life the best-known public spat in all of paleontology: the bitter rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. This frenzy of discovery and one-upmanship—known today as the Bone Wars—was a gold rush–like scramble to find the most and “best” dinosaur fossils, thus bringing to glory to their respective home-base universities. Lively and witty rhymes plus wonderfully demented illustrations reveal how the paleontologists’ infamous rivalry began, and how—despite making genuine and lasting contributions to the field—their mutual obsession with outdoing one another spun out of control.

Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones is a nonfiction picturebook in rhyme. I have always been interested in paleontology, and this book brought the initial rush to find and identify dinosaur bones to life. While there was some exaggerating and silliness to make the picturebook my engaging, the facts and fascinating tidbits of information I had not known were included as well. I think that this is a must read for children (and adults) interested in American history and paleontology.The trouble Cope and Marsh cause for themselves is entertaining, but rather sad, that adults would cheat and lie to gain notoriety for themselves and their employers, but it is not all that surprising when you see what some are still willing to do in the name of money or fame. I found the factual parts to be well written and accessible, and the story of Cope and Marsh's rivalry was entertaining and engaging. The artwork is just as entertaining and attention grabbing as the text and story, keeping readers turning pages. I think this would be a great addition to school and public library collections. It could inspire future scientists and historians as well as starting discussions on how rivalries can get out of hand and cause the participants more trouble than it is worth.

I had no idea that there was such a competitive nature between paleontologists, but apparently it was quite a big deal. With a hats off to Dr. Seuss, Enik tells the story of how these men used any means necessary to have the biggest discoveries in finding dinosaur fossils and even resorted to crime and outright lies.

I would have loved to see more talked about the actual dinosaurs and discoveries they found, but this book was about the ridiculous desire to one-up the other. The two men got so caught up in their desire to be famous that they forgot about the science of what they were supposed to be doing. As a media student, it quickly reminded me of yellow journalism, and my husband pointed out that it was fake news.

This book is a must for the dinosaur lover and a great read-aloud. I could definitely see how this would get a classroom of kids talking about fact and fiction, competition, and the importance of fair play.

This was an interesting new way to illustrate the history of dinosaurs and paleontology. The story follows a rhyme scheme throughout, which at times can be quite a tongue-twister. Though factual, the story is written fictitiously with much embellishment. For young readers this may make learning about paleontologists and the real "Bone Wars" more interesting, but I would not recommend using this book as a teaching method on the Great Dinosaur Rush. Illustrations are very well done and story is entertaining.

Sticks ’n’ Stones ’n’ Dinosaur Bones by Ted Enik, and illustrated by G. F. Newland gives the reader a humorous look at deception in the scientific world. Children will love the topic of dinosaur but there is a moral lesson that is greater than the science one.

Primary age children will understand and enjoy this rhyming story best, though older children may be interested in the scams that these paleontologists tried to past off as unique “discoveries”. While funny, I found it also to be sad that there was such a waste of talent by their competitiveness.

The illustrations add to the comical side of the story along with the story done in rhyme. My grandson loved the rhyming as well as the illustrations but I found the text to be tongue-tying when I read it aloud. Just the same, it is a part of history that we usually do not hear about.

The paleontology-based rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh comes to life in this humorous adventure. From sincere discovery to one-upmanship to flat out lying Cope and Marsh's tale comically unfolds. With it's great rhythm, rhyme, illustrations, and voice, Sticks ’n’ Stones ’n’ Dinosaur Bones reads more like fiction than nonfiction and is sure to be a fast favorite.

Plus, it's the first book in the Unhinged History series, so except more fun to come!

This was a fun read!
My 6-year old who is a dinosaur fanatic greatly enjoyed the story. While I think it was a little hard for him to follow, he didn't struggle with the wording!

The story was interesting, to say the least!
I did get confused with the rhyming as in some spots it rhymes really well, and in other spots not so much. It got difficult to try and figure out what which way the author was trying to go with that.

This is a pleasant story in rhyming couplets of two wacky scientists failing to live up to their calling and just trying instead to out-do each other in the quest for better dinosaur remains - and yes, then, it's based on a true story. The artwork is fun for the young to look at and the verse bubbles along nicely, with a couple of tweaks to the rhyme and rhythm here and there. I liked the additional factual text at the end, too, where we see the true legacy of the real characters. While the story goes deeply into the realms of the silly when I'm sure the truth was fantastical enough, I can see the kind of response it would get from the young audience member, and this book is still an interesting window into the past of our paleontologists.

Dinosaurs, hoaxes, scientists, con-artists… What a fun story.
Somehow Enik took one of the most disreputable incidents in paleontology and turned it into a humorous contest of crooks. Humor is by far biggest point of this story; you’ll get the general idea of what happened, but not specifics.
I would recommend everyone, whose child is interested in any branch of paleontology or anthropology, read this book to them. It’s any easy way to introduce them to the very human and often flawed side of the scientific world.
The illustrations are ever as whimsical as the lyrics, pardon me, rhymes.
There are touches of evolution here and there, but not too much. Mostly it’s confined to the first few pages and the index of dinosaurs finds at the end.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Schiffer Publishing Ltd. It was my pleasure to give my honest opinions.

The rhyming fell a bit flat for me but the story was awesome and the illustrations fantastic. I look forward to the next in the series.

If your kid loves dinosaurs, or you own a dinosaur book at all, you should add this one to the collection. Two men, Cope and March, led the pack in discovering dinosaur bones in the US. They made paleontology cool. But they were very competitive, and raced against each other to find the most unique dinosaurs. They were so competitive that they even stooped to faking finds. This story is very interesting, but told in an entertaining and rhyming way. The rhymes can be harsh at times, and do not always flow freely, but the illustrations and ideas more than make up for it.

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This book is a must have for any school and home library collection. It is sure to delight any bone and fossil loving young boy or girl. It would appeal to the Pre-K and elementary age child. The story is told in a quick paced rhyming scheme. The illustrations are perfection making the tale appear much like a circus side show.

Sticks N Stones was an incredibly fun book to read. It was factual and entertaining at the same time. It was an interesting perspective on the ethics and challenges in the field of paleontology. I can't wait to introduce this book to my preschoolers during their dinosaur study next year.

I would love to have been in on the pitch for this book. "I want to write a picture book, its about dinasurs, well, it is about the paleontologist that dug them up, and they competed. And they lied and they made up dinasurs to boost their ego. Oh, and it will all be in rhyme.

If I had known all that before I read this, I think I would have not read it.

But, it works. This is a very light-hearted look at a time when men (because non one considered Mary Anning to be a real paleontologist because she was a woman) went looking for fossils and naming dinasuars.

Great for kids who like reading about danseurs, which is just about all of them, and fun to read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

A Seuss-like take on the Bone Wars, and a fairly good introduction to the subject for kids. The Bone Wars have been something that has fascinated me since I was a kid, in the prime of my dinosaur phase--my biography report in 1st grade was on O(thniel) Charles Marsh. However, since then I have not actually read or researched the feud in-depth. This was a nice introduction to the feud between Edward Cope and O. Charles Marsh, as they raced to see who could uncover and name the most dinosaur species. The feud started out relatively civil, but quickly escalated to a manipulative contest where science and reason took a back seat to the determination of the two professors to outdo each other.

This book is written in rhyme and starts off strong, providing the background information on the feud. But once we get to the actual discovering of the dinosaurs and the various talks that the professors held to "introduce" their new discoveries to the public, the prose remained quirky, but it lacked information on what actually happened. While I got the general idea, there were very few facts interwoven in the second half or so of the book, which I was disappointed with.

Despite this, the rhyme format and the illustrations make for a very cool book, and it would be perfect for any kid who loves dinosaurs.