Granny Rex

About the Book

A tiny bird discovers her inner dinosaur and learns to roar in this sweet story about remembering where you came from.

When little Dee is harassed by the neighborhood hawk, Mama tells her that her 20-million-times great-great-great-grandmother was an enormous dinosaur named Granny Rex and that Granny Rex still lives in Dee’s feathers and bones. It’s true: Not only did birds descend from dinosaurs, but they are related to the Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the mightiest dinosaurs of all! “Never forget,” says Mama to her little bird, “that you are a dinosaur.” Dee discovers she might be small, but she is mighty.

As a family book Granny Rex can open up conversation about ancestry. As a classroom book it can tie in to discussions about evolutionary biology. 

Kirkus Reviews describes the book as “chirpy reassurance that size doesn’t matter, even if we can’t all be descended from dinosaurs.” School Library Journal describes it as “heartwarming” and recommends it for purchase to school libraries.

You can order the book directly from the publisher, or any bookseller. Support your local booksellers!

Questions You Might Ask…

Are chickadees really evolved from T. Rex?

Chickadees are evolved from therapods, the clade that includes T. Rex. While T. Rex is not a direct ancestor of the chickadee (more like a great aunt!), they do share a common ancestor. Granny Rex is that common ancestor. You can read more about this fascinating history here.

Why would dinosaurs turn into birds?

My son calls this “the biggest nerf in history.” (LOL!) But in fact birds were simply better adapted to their environment when the world changed following an ecological disaster. The adage about “the survival of the fittest,” is often misunderstood to mean that the strongest, fastest, most cunning, or the most relentless survives. In fact, “fittest” in this sense means, “the best fit for this situation,” or the best adapted to the environment. As the story shows, in some cases the fittest is not the biggest, the fastest, or the most cunning. It may mean the smallest, most resourceful, and even the most musical. Fittest sometimes means those who look out for one another, as Dee does in this story.

But is evolution even true? Isn’t it just a theory?

In science, theory doesn’t mean “a guess,” but “an explanatory model for how things work.” A scientific theory must hold true for all observations and pass all tests, or it fails to function as a theory. Rather than asking “is this true?” we might ask “is this useful?” So far evolution continues to function as the best explanatory tool for understanding life in all forms. That is, it is really useful!

Did you draw the pictures? How did you find the illustrator?

The pictures are by an artist named Nik Henderson. Many times a publisher will buy a story and find an artist to draw the pictures; that is exactly what happened here. I have still not met Nik and didn’t talk to him while he was doing the art. It was a thrill to see the characters come to life in his talented hands. I hope I do meet him some day, he seems cool and has lots of awesome drawings and paintings you can see here.

What does the dedication mean?

My dedication is from one of my favorite poems; it is not titled but is often called “may my heart always be open.” It is by e. e. cummings, and there is a lovely illustrated interpretation (with the complete poem) here. I think it is simply about appreciating the wondrous things in the world around us, remaining curious and full of wonder no matter how old we get.