The discoveries of archaeologists and palaeontologists are pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle by which scientists compose a picture of times long past. Past times laid the foundations of the present, just as the present is now laying the foundations of the future. The passing of each day makes each of us a bigger part of history.

So as not to be forgotten, we record and preserve moments we consider important, so creating our personal jigsaw. Our ancestors, distant and otherwise, didn’t have the means to do this. Even so, they left plenty behind. Although much of this plenty has been covered or destroyed by passing time, modern technology allows us to learn a great deal about it, and about ourselves too. The book Famous Finds and Their Finders describes 40 such discoveries, together with their discoverers and circumstances, which themselves have become parts of our history.

Searching for the Past is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

Reviewed by Meghan Cox Gurdon from The Wall Street Journal (read the full review here).

Chosen as a Children’s Book Council Hot of the Press book (November 2023).