A Dinosaur Named Ruth

Visit julialyon.com for more information.

For fans of Shark Lady and from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Dr. Fauci comes the incredible true story of a girl who discovered dinosaur bones in her own backyard and, after years of persistence, helped uncover one of the most exciting paleontological discoveries of our time.

There’s an extraordinary secret hidden just beneath Ruth Mason’s feet. The year is 1905, and Ruth is a prairie girl living in South Dakota. She has no way of knowing that millions of years ago, her family farm was once home to scores of dinosaurs. Until one day, when Ruth starts finding clues to the past: strange rocks and rubble scattered all across her land. They’re dinosaur fossils—but she doesn’t know that yet, either. It will take many years of collecting these clues, and many, many questions, but Ruth’s curiosity will one day help uncover thousands of fossils all across her land.

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“Simply talking about Ruth Mason’s story brings a smile to my face. Told with bright and cheery illustrations, this is the best kind of inspiring picture book biography, complete with lessons that little girls—and all children—can learn from and delight in.”

—Nicole F., Assistant Editor, on A Dinosaur Named Ruth

About the Author and Illustrator:

Julia Lyon is an award-winning former newspaper reporter who now writes hidden history for kids. Her debut nonfiction picture book, A Dinosaur Named Ruth, published in November 2021. Illustrated by Alexandra Bye and published by Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, the book is based on the true story of Ruth Mason who found dinosaur bones in her own backyard.

Before becoming a children’s book author, Julia worked in daily newspapers in Bend, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah for more than 10 years covering education, poverty, health and refugees. As a reporter, she spent many hours interviewing kids from around the world.

She specialized in in-depth stories whether it was a small town girls’ basketball team uniting kids on and off the reservation or Burmese refugees grappling with the loss of their only daughter just months after coming to America.

That story took her to Thailand on an International Reporting Project fellowship and led her to win a gold medal from the United Nations Correspondents Association.

Now Julia is writing books based on true stories she thinks all kids should learn. A college history major at Columbia University and a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, she loves using her investigative skills to dig up remnants of the past in newspapers, letters and unexpected sources.

Julia lives in an old house in Salt Lake City with three very busy children and one very tall, kind husband. In her free time, she likes to swim and is trying to learn a few more chords on the ukulele. Though she hasn’t found any dinosaur bones in her backyard yet, there’s still time.