Brunella Costagliola Livres

Ella and Alex, seven-year-old Italian American twins, often visit Discovery Casa, a retirement home where their mother works. There, they meet Layla, a six-year-old Afro-Panamanian girl who visits her Abuelita. The trio learns about a new resident named Art, who remains silent and mysterious. Intrigued, they embark on a mission to uncover his story and discover he is an artist known for a peculiar painting featuring three dinosaurs on a beach, with a woman in the background. The children wonder what she is doing there. Art soon appears, dressed in a paint-splattered white coat and carrying a paintbrush. In a magical turn of events, the paintbrush begins to shimmer, creating a vortex that transports the friends into the painting, landing them on the beach. Their adventure truly begins as they meet Emet, the flamboyant and witty paintbrush, who will guide them through time. In this first installment, they encounter Mary Anning, a pioneering female paleontologist whose significant contributions to the understanding of dinosaurs and evolution were largely overshadowed by her male counterparts. The story highlights her groundbreaking work and the challenges she faced due to her gender, emphasizing the importance of recognizing forgotten figures in history.