Brontosaurus Is Back! A Dinosaur’s Name and Return to Fame
Author: Sarah Albee
Illustrator: Chris Hsu
Published September 29th, 2026 by Charlesbridge
Summary: A hilarious and fascinating look at Brontosaurus’s comeback—perfect for dino fans and curious kids learning how science evolves over time.
A fun, fact-filled nonfiction picture book for ages 6 to 9 about a dinosaur’s disappearing act and return.
This is fun, lively, kid-appeal-filled nonfiction and tells the story of brontosaurus—discovered, discontinued, and then reinstated again.
Dino fans, come and get it! There’s so much to learn in this interesting book about naming, sloppy science, dueling paleontologists, and more! Sarah Albee’s signature humor and strong writing, coupled with Chris Hsu’s kid-friendly and accurate art, bring history to life on the page.
Praise: A classic case study in how the course of scientific advancement can run anything but smooth.
In the late 19th century, renowned paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh announced the discovery of scattered bones belonging to a sauropod he dubbed “Apatosaurus,” or “deceptive lizard.” At nearly the same time rival bone hunter Edward D. Cope proclaimed a similar find to be fossils of “Brontosaurus,” meaning “thunder lizard.” A later researcher’s determination that both actually belonged to the same genus touched off a century-long controversy, since, as Albee writes, scientific practice gives naming rights to the first finder. So even though “Brontosaurus was catchier,” and went on to become the common name with a “dino-dazzled” public, it fell out of official use. Until 2015, that is, when further discoveries led many researchers to change their minds and announce that the two actually were different dinosaurs. While laying out the bones of the kerfuffle with a fine sense of drama, the author also fleshes out her story with revealing observations about the evolution of our whole understanding of sauropod anatomy. Along the way she gives proper credit to Marsh’s original Sioux informants, as does Hsu in a period scene placed amid views of dinos, fossil bones, and skeletons, and racially diverse groups of modern museum visitors. A cheery glimpse of science in action, warts and all. —Kirkus Reviews
About the Creators:
Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction books for kids. Her most recent titles are both nonfiction picture books: The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington, and Zero! The Number that Almost Wasn’t. Other popular titles include Troublemakers in Trousers: Women and What They Wore to Get Things Done; Fairy Tale Science; Accidental Archaeologists: True Stories of Unexpected Discoveries; and Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up; and Alexander Hamilton: A Plan for America. She and her husband live in New York City and have three grown children. Visit her at www.sarahalbeebooks.com.
Sarah Albee: IG @sarahjalbee FB @sarah.albee
Chris Hsu is a picture book illustrator and animation background artist whose credits include FX’s Archer and Marvel’s Hit-Monkey. His illustration work is influenced by world history, art history and music, and current favorite non-art activity is watching his daughters and nieces play soccer on Saturdays.
Chris Hsu: IG @chrisillustration
Review: Happy National Fossil Day! Brontosaurus is Back is the perfect book to highlight today!
This text does so much: it shows the truth of how science is always evolving, how egos get in the way of scientific endeavors, how early paleontology worked, and how fossils help paleontologists. Sarah Albee is so good at balancing all the different goals of a nonfiction book while also making it interesting and engaging because Brontosaurus does all of this in an entertaining and informative way. I, personally, liked the funny bird sidekick to the narrator because it continued to remind the reader that dinosaurs are related to birds. I also think that the inclusion of the sidebars helped with bringing any needed extra facts back to the narrative to help keep the reader thinking outside of the narrative being told.
Also, oh man, I love the highlighting of two eager scientists trying to outdo each other and making mistakes–what a wonderful message for students! It is so important to do things slowly and correctly, not quickly and with mistakes.
The only thing I wish was that there was more explanation of the WHY brontosaurus came back–it just explains that there was a study in 2015 that said apatosaurus and brontosaurus are different but not exactly why; however, this is a perfect education opportunity!
Educators’ Tools for Navigation: The first thing I would have students do when finishing the book is look more into apatosauruses and brontosauruses and make a comparison and contrast on them.
This could also be a jumping off point for a debate because, as the book shares, “not all paleontologists agree,” so students can look at the evidence and decide what they agree with.
Discussion Questions:
- Today is National Fossil Day! What did you learn about fossils in this book?
- How did ego play into scientists not being correct on their fossil analysis when it came to the sauropods?
- How is paleontology a bit of a sciene of guessing on top of a science of fossils?
- Do you agree with the policy of using the first name assigned to a species being used if two species are being determined to be the same? Why or why not?
- Why do you think that most did not care that some scientists said brontosaurus weren’t their own species?
- Why were scientists wrong for over a hundred years on the shape of that apatosaurus’s head?
- On the page with “A Closer Look,” what differences do you see between the two dinosaurs?
- What are some ways that you see or learned that dinosaurs and modern birds are alike?
Flagged Spreads:
Read This If You Love: Dinosaurs, Science, Nonfiction Picture Books
Recommended For:
**Thank you to Charlesbridge & Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**
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