by Mary Gadberry,
January 22, 2024 – A Book Barn in Clovis hosted Fossil Saturday on January 20, 2024, featuring Steven Hammond, The Dino Dude.
Hammond, an amateur paleontologist, artist, and author, brought in casts of various fossils to share with the children and adults that came to visit.
His display contained size comparisons to humans and house cats, along with replicas that children were allowed to touch while he told them interesting facts about each dinosaur.
4-year-old Maddon Largent, a budding paleontologist, was able to identify many of the dinosaurs in the display.
His mom, Ashley, encourages his interests, providing books about dinosaurs and bringing him to events like these.
Maddon was fascinated by the fossils and the size comparisons, especially the knuckle bone and thumb claw fossil replicas.
When it came to the gastrolith, also called a gizzard stone, and its path through the dinosaur’s digestive tract, all Maddon could say was, “Wow.”
Another family with three children came in, and as Hammond began his lesson, the children were very curious and had good questions.
The size comparisons, of dinosaurs to humans (an adult male can stand up under the triceratops’ chin, for example) were interesting, and then being able to see the replica triceratops horn really made that comparison clear.
Hammond has been interested in dinosaurs his entire life, and says the first books he remembers reading were about dinosaurs.
He has been on several digs, but does not have a degree in paleontology. He is an author of several fantasy books and an artist, and he brings his dinosaur display to A Book Barn once a month.
Hammond can be found on Facebook as The Dino Dude.
A Book Barn, a used book store in Clovis, is located at 640 Clovis Avenue, and their phone number is (559) 297-9052.
The winter hours are Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.
They often host book clubs, readings by local authors, book signings, writer’s workshops, open mic, and education related events.
The schedule can be found on their website www.clovisbookbarn.com